Flamengo rising star Reinier – who is reportedly in talks to join Real Madrid – is the best young player in Brazil, according to Rivaldo.
Reports over last weekend claimed a €30m deal was essentially done after Marca said Los Blancos were confident of beating Barcelona and Manchester City to the player.
“He is the best young player in Brazil, but not only because of his quality, but because he has also been a member of the Brazilian champions and of the champions of the Copa Libertadores last season,”Rivaldo – a former star with Barcelona and one of the most famous Brazilians to play in Spain – told Betfair.
Reinier appeared to pour cold water on an imminent move to Madrid this month: “Let’s wait,” he replied when training with Brazil’s Under-23 team, as cited by Diario AS.
It follows a report in Diario AS from November that Atletico Madrid were in ‘advanced negotiations’ for the player while El Mundo Deportivo initially reported Barcelona were also keen.
The 17-year-old is said to be the latest jewel to emerge from Brazilian football and is widely tipped to have a big future ahead of him at the top level.
Reinier only debuted for Flamengo – who won the Copa Libertadores this year along with the Brazilian top-flight – earlier this year, but he already has six goals in just eight starts in the league.
Reinier has a reported termination clause of 70 million dollars (approximately €62m) at the Brazilian giants but clubs are said to be confident in being able to reduce this drastically in a theoretical transfer.
Despite not being known widely outside of Brazil, there is said to be a high level of confidence in the nation that Reinier is set to be a star and will command a transfer fee of at least €50m.
Image via Diario AS
