Wesley Moraes

[Demitri_C]

1 hour ago, TrentVilla said:

No he wasn't.

They announced they had agreed the transfer subject to a work permit and international clearance. 

He won't be considered a signing until that process is complete and his registration is transferred to Villa.

So in theory if work permit is denied it could still fall through?

Has a medical been done or does that get done after these go through?

[TrentVilla]

4 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

So in theory if work permit is denied it could still fall through?

Has a medical been done or does that get done after these go through?

Yes like the Kalanic deal did a few years back only to then oddly resurface...... never a Smith buy that.

I believe the medical was happening at wkend so assume that’s done.

[Vive_La_Villa]

6 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

So in theory if work permit is denied it could still fall through?

Has a medical been done or does that get done after these go through?

I’d be shocked if a work permit is denied. 

[Demitri_C]

1 minute ago, TrentVilla said:

Yes like the Kalanic deal did a few years back only to then oddly resurface...... never a Smith buy that.

I believe the medical was happening at wkend so assume that’s done.

Yes I did find kalinic a very odd signing  as we tried to get him years ago and now we are just trying to flog him off.

I'm not surprised he wasn't a Smith signing 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

37 minutes ago, Demitri_C said:

Yes I did find kalinic a very odd signing  as we tried to get him years ago and now we are just trying to flog him off.

I'm not surprised he wasn't a Smith signing 

So i'm trying to figure out which faction at VT would have sanctioned the signing?

Did we, or do we still have scouts and decision makers here from the previous regime?

I assumed Smith and Cutler et al would have had to have a say in this.

[Vive_La_Villa]

1 minute ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

So i'm trying to figure out which faction at VT would have sanctioned the signing?

Did we, or do we still have scouts and decision makers here from the previous regime?

I assumed Smith and Cutler et al would have had to have a say in this.

Suso - ‘’If you need a keeper for the first week in January the best we can do is the current Croatia number 1. The alternative is we can take longer to find someone but Nyland continues in goal for most of January’’

Smith - ‘’Please Sign him’’

[MikeMcKenna]

Great article in The Times about Wesley Moraes - paywall.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/sport/how-wesley-moraes-arrived-at-aston-villa-via-brazil-slovakia-and-belgium-6pcslldb

How Wesley Moraes arrived at Aston Villa via Brazil, Slovakia and Belgium

 

Gary Jacob

June 18 2019, 12:00pm, The Times

 

Moraes has scored 23 league goals in his past two seasons in Belgium

 

Wesley Moraes had never played on a proper football pitch until about seven years ago but that is the least remarkable part of the forward’s journey from poverty in Brazil to become Aston Villa’s record signing. Villa have agreed to pay Club Bruges £22 million for the player, eclipsing the £18 million they paid for Darren Bent in 2011.

A brief précis of Moraes’s life is that his father died from a brain tumour when he was nine, he had an unplanned son at the age of 15 and a daughter a year later. Two years later he was working on an assembly line sorting screws and bolts, earning the equivalent of less than £150 a month, to support his family. He started to play football more seriously around 15 or 16 and after various trials he arrived at Bruges in Belgium via Trencin in Slovakia.

The most painful and sad moments of his life have been captured in tattoos on his body. Paulo, his father, is pictured on his neck and there is also a drawing of him on his left arm which symbolises the desire to be strong and overcome adversity. His father taught him to play football. Another image depicts the loss of his sister’s son, Gustavo, and on his other arm are tattoos of the Virgin Mary, after whom his mother is named; his daughter and Fé, the Portuguese word for faith. They are references to the religious values instilled in him by mother. On his right shin is a tattoo of a football with wings.

Now 22, his experiences explain why he has searched for a father figure and has needed a lot of care and attention to keep him on the right path during his career. He joined Bruges in 2016 and initially had an eye for the nightlife. His lifestyle was poor and his diet contained too much sugar. He was taken to a supermarket and shown that he needed to buy more salad, fruit and yogurt and to avoid takeaway meals.

Moraes would send the team manager photos of the meals he cooked and the results translated into his becoming leaner, fitter and better on the pitch. Dévy Rigaux, the Bruges team manager, said: “There used to be not enough vitamins in his afternoon snacks and he sometimes just skipped breakfast.”

Early on at the Belgian club he received red cards for elbowing and swinging his arms at opponents. Bruges tried to channel his aggression in the right way, prevent him reacting and made him calmer.

In a game against Antwerp he played with tape on his hands, without having an injury, as a reminder to him not to respond. He showed he was fairly fast but poor in the air despite standing at 6ft 3in. Bruges worked on his heading ability, making him practise for hours with Philippe Clement, the assistant coach. It bore results and Moraes scored 13 and 11 league goals in the past two seasons, respectively.

Moving to England will seem a world away from his upbringing in Brazil. He grew up in Juiz de Fora, a city in southeastern Brazil, about 200 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro. His father was a midfielder who although not professional, made money from the game. He became partially disabled later in life and used the benefits to support his family before his death. “After his death, I almost broke,” Moraes has said. “He did everything for me. And he taught me to play football.”

Moraes became a father at 15 to Yan — Maria Eduarda, a daughter, followed a year later. At the time becoming a professional footballer was unimaginable. He played four-a-side indoor matches and his trials came to nothing at various clubs in Brazil. Eventually he was picked up by Itabuna Esporte Clube, in the sixth tier and based in Itabuna, Bahia state, and did well enough to be sent for trials at Atlético Madrid in Spain and Nancy in France. But they ultimately ended fruitless and he returned home to work in a factory sorting screws.

Then a chance opportunity came when he was spotted by Paulo Nehmy, an agent who has become his second father. Nehmy suggested to Trencín in Slovakia that he should join them and they offered him a place in the Under-19 side and then a contract. They had a cosmopolitan academy of Chinese, Dutch, Nigerian and Serbian players and wanted to turn him into a classic No 9 striker.

Trencín is a city with a population of about 55,000 in western Slovakia, about 120km from Bratislava, near the border with the Czech Republic. He was helped to adapt to his new surroundings by Ramon and Jairo da Silva, two fellow Brazilians, and learnt English playing with James Lawrence, the Wales defender who had previously spent two years at Arsenal and now plays for Anderlecht. Trencin, who sold him to Bruges for €1 million (£900,000), has been a youth pool for Belgian clubs in recent years. They have nurtured the likes of Leon Bailey, Samuel Kalu and Lawrence.

Moraes has supported his family in Brazil and bought two apartments in his home city as an investment. His younger brothers call him Pai, Portuguese for father, by way of thanks. Rudy Heylen, the Bruges mental coach, arranged for a video message from a member of each of the player’s family before a match against Anderlecht. Moraes’s mother gave a talk and the forward cried.

Rigaux has said: “I have seen photos of his family and friends, who sit around the table in a tiny kitchen — 25 men who count on him. Sometimes we underestimate that moral pressure. He wants everyone to be proud of him and gets goosebumps when supporters chant his name. If others say he played well, you see his face light up.”

Edited June 19, 2019 by MikeMcKenna

[Wezbid]

That's a great article. I can't wait to see his progression when Dean and co get their coaching claws into him. So much potential. 

[sne]

Just hope he ends up getting a WP.

Would be so Aston Villa if he didn't.

[Lord Willard]

My only concern is that he didn't play well in Spain because their winter is cold.... I hope he has manned up a little since then 

[alreadyexists]

9 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

My only concern is that he didn't play well in Spain because their winter is cold.... I hope he has manned up a little since then 

When did he play in Spain? I thought he’s gone from Brazil youth career to Slovakia to Belgium?

[Lord Willard]

6 minutes ago, alreadyexists said:

When did he play in Spain? I thought he’s gone from Brazil youth career to Slovakia to Belgium?

I'm sure I read he had a brief spell at Athletico. 

 

Lemme try and find the article again

 

EDIT - He played against Athletico Madrid and complained it was cold 

Edited June 19, 2019 by Lord Willard

[alreadyexists]

30 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

I'm sure I read he had a brief spell at Athletico. 

 

Lemme try and find the article again

 

EDIT - He played against Athletico Madrid and complained it was cold 

Ah! I hadn’t heard that. Wait until the wind is whipping in past the North Stand, then he’ll know what cold is!

[praisedmambo]

46 minutes ago, Lord Willard said:

My only concern is that he didn't play well in Spain because their winter is cold.... I hope he has manned up a little since then 

Not just aimed at you, but there are so many funny interpretations of reality on this website based on nothing but complete guesswork (and pessimism).

EDIT: I didn't see he complained about the cold.

Edited June 19, 2019 by praisedmambo

[mikeyp102]

Good article about him. I just hope we’ve got a good infrastructure in place to look after foreign players, as sounds like he will need a lot of support. 

[Condimentalist]

Nice piece.

Exciting reading about the big man, but I also hope we're not totally relying on him and are planning another move for a striker too, as there's certainly some risk attached.

[Condimentalist]

1 hour ago, Lord Willard said:

I'm sure I read he had a brief spell at Athletico. 

 

Lemme try and find the article again

 

EDIT - He played against Athletico Madrid and complained it was cold 

It's not warm in Bruges over winter - I'm sure he'll cope with the weather. 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Wait... The Times actually charge you for articles of that quality? It reads like a Wikipedia page. Really poor. 

He is a great story though, I hope it works out for him here for more than our own selfish reasons. 

[The_Rev]

Disappointed to see that Statsbomb don’t think very much of him. They are an analytics site who cater to professionals, one of the guys who runs it was at Brentford with Smith, and on their most recent podcast they have concerns over the deal. He had a good season a couple of years back but barely scores outside of the six yard box and doesn’t link play up very well. He is dominant physically, let’s hope Smith can get a tune out of him. Hopefully the language barrier isn’t an issue. 

[sne]

20 minutes ago, The_Rev said:

Disappointed to see that Statsbomb don’t think very much of him. They are an analytics site who cater to professionals, one of the guys who runs it was at Brentford with Smith, and on their most recent podcast they have concerns over the deal. He had a good season a couple of years back but barely scores outside of the six yard box and doesn’t link play up very well. He is dominant physically, let’s hope Smith can get a tune out of him. Hopefully the language barrier isn’t an issue. 

The Brazilian Marlon Harewood? 

Edited June 19, 2019 by sne