In their pursuit of upping each other by unearthing talent from places not visited often, teams in the Premier League have started to look at different markets in earnest.
And while Brazil is not an unknown market, it does have players that have never played in Europe but are good enough to at least warrant a look. One such player has emerged on the PL radar.
Tottenham one of many PL clubs looking at Richard Ríos
As reported by CaughtOffside, Tottenham alongside Nottingham Forest and Everton are looking at Palmeiras midfielder Richard Ríos.
The 24-year-old is a combative midfielder known to be good at tackles as well as on the ball. Over six feet tall, he played a key role in the Palmeiras side last season that won the Campeonato Paulista, making 49 appearances across all competitions and registering four goals and five assists.
Ríos’s current contract, signed not too long ago, is set to run until December 2028 and has a €100m release clause. His suitors have not shown any interest in activating it, though the recently-signed extension allows Palmeiras some room to play hardball.
TTLB Opinion
Ríos is an exciting player, but there are some tricky questions to keep in mind for teams looking at him.
Firstly, he turns 25 ahead of next season. For a player yet to play in Europe he is without a doubt a late bloomer, meaning any team considering bringing him to Europe will have very little time to offer him and see how he develops.
This makes it even harder for clubs to make a bid anywhere close to his reported release clause. One can expect him to push for a move in the coming months, as players do, but if that were to not happen it’s hard to see a Premier League club spending big on a player entirely unproven in Europe, regardless of how much he’d be a stylistic fit on paper.
