The Myth of South America

South America has produced some of the greatest ever players in football history. Many South American players have played for the best teams in the game. But rarely do players make a move directly from South America to elite-level clubs. But why?

As Jon Mackenzie explains most players need a stepping stone club to take them to the next level. Illustrated by Henry Cooke.

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#Brazil #GabrielJesus #Argentina

[brianhinojosa]

Real Madrid signed 3 players directly from South America that were crucial in winning the Champions League last season
Federico Valverde - Peñarol
Vinícius Jr - Flamengo
Rodrygo - Santos

[matthewsayles]

It needs to be pointed out that the reason Douglas Luiz never made an appearance for Man City was his inability to obtain a work permit during his time there. He was able to get one when he signed for Aston Villa because of the more important role he was projected (correctly) to play in a newly promoted team.

[_pulyx]

Ask Real Madrid if they regret signing Rodrygo and Vinicius Jr. directly from their Brazilian clubs.

[TheMinecraftimos]

As a Brighton fan, i’ve seen first hand the quality of player you can get directly from South America. Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister have become regular starters for us after being bought directly from Ecuador and Argentina respectively. We have also bought Julio Enciso this summer from Paraguay who looks to have lots of potential. But these players, particularly Caicedo and Mac Allister, had significant periods of time where they weren’t playing for Brighton after they were signed to allow them to settle into the new league, country and culture by going out on loan, playing for u21s/u23s or just being unused subs in match day squads. So South America definitely houses some gems but you have to give them time to adjust

[ajmalaj]

The more noteworthy thing is that Martinelli directly moved from the Brazilian fourth division to the Premier League

[replay]

As a South American (A Brazilian, more specifically), although i agree with some points that were made, i couldn't help but feel that this argument was somewhat elitist and prejudiced towards South America, as whole. There are a lot of good examples in clubs like Real Madrid, that goes against this theory of yours.

And also, that may come as a surprise, but there's actually elite football being played outside UK, in Europe!

[GabrielSantosNicolau]

"Never sign directlly from South America" is based on prejudice. Jack Grealish is a perfect example

[ConspiracyOfAVlogger]

I think this myth of never signing directly is really stupid and based on prejudice. You can get players for way less money buying directly from the clubs in South America, and playing in stronger leagues is not a guarantee that a player will work in the Premier League. Tottenham spent years buying players from France and the Netherlands and pretty much all of them flopped.

[andre_cinelli]

I thought the video would be about Europe as a whole, but it was just about PL. This "rule" does not seem to apply to the rest of Europe, Serie a and La Liga had several players who came directly from South America to their leagues, Pato, Thiago silva and Kaka in Milan, Marcelo, Casemiro, Vini Jr, Rodrygo in Real Madrid. I believe this is an English exclusivity of not going directly to South America.

[Chango]

Never sign directly from South America seems like a patently stupid position imo. Some of the quality has been outrageous and available at ridiculously low prices. Gabriel Martinelli from the 4th division of Brazilian football is probably worth 10x what arsenal paid for him right now.

[valmorjanjacomo]

In fact, these players didn't necessarily develop their football in Europe, that's the real myth here. The true is that in most of the cases, they just adapted to fit in European football. They were as good in Brazil as they are now in the premier league but different as the leagues are different. Brazilian league is not a step behind, it's just a different game compared to European leagues that look all the same.

[fabriciofazano]

when Barcelona signed Neymar 2013, he was already one of the best players in the world and the leader of the national team playing at Santos

[lucasvasconcelos]

Remember guys, ManUtd paid €80mil in Maguire and ManCity paid €100mil in Grealish but Real Madrid paid €6mil for Casemiro, €45mil for Vini, Arsenal €7mil for Martinelli and Watford €12mil for Richarlison but guess what, I think it's better to pay more for an English player because he's adapted than cheap in an SA talent because he's gonna flop in the PL

[alcinei_m]

Truth is the Brazilian league has higher technical level than the leagues of Portugal and the Netherlands, for example, but English clubs don't seem to have any trouble signing players from those leagues.

[lts]

Always knew South America didn't exist 🙄 thanks for the confirmation, Tifo

[bernardopaba]

The focus should’ve been on europe’s big teams as a whole, for players like Neymar, Vinicius, Marcelo, Higuaín, Agüero, Chicharito, Valverde, Rodrygo, Giménez, Ángel Correa, Lodi, Arthur, Alison, Paqueta, Lautaro, Araujo, Bentancur, etc. to name some of the recent ones that have made the jump directly to a big club from latin american clubs. The best players in the world have always come from Latin America, and even though the brits might think there’s a world of difference between the prem and south america, clubs like Flamengo, Palmeiras, Corinthians, Boca, River, Monterrey, Tigres, America would easily compete for Europa League and Conference league spots in the prem over teams like everton, west ham, leeds, etc

[TheYEPEEE]

There are hundreds of South American players who never had the platform to be recognized by scouts, I’m certain many of them would’ve done well in Europe. Hopefully that changes

[Anonassassin]

I rather Chelsea spend money on a South American talent than spend 60 million try to sign Anthony Gordon and Harry Maguire. I don't understand why TT is mistreating and not developing the talent we already have at the club

[hamster]

I’m glad arsenal haven’t really followed this model. Martinelli cost 6m and is probably worth over 10x that and is one of our best players. Marquinhos is utterly dominating the u23’s right now, and looks like he’ll get europa league and cup matches

[CJVP]

This ridiculous rule and tentativeness is why the PL teams have missed out on some all time great south Americans like Dinho, R9, Neymar, Kaka, Messi, etc imagine if they actually went for it and brought those players in early on, England would be the dominant force in CL and not Spain