Almost halfway through the Brazilian season, the debate rages among fans and pundits: if the championship were to finish now - who would be its craque or, more specifically, its best player? For many, it’s a clear two horse race between Corinthians’ Guilherme Arana and Luan of Grêmio.
While Arana is a classic left wingback cut from the same cloth as Marcelo and Alex Sandro, Luan is without doubt the outstanding attacking force in Brazilian football at the moment with a list of European suitors including Liverpool and even Stoke City linked to his capture.
When he was omitted from the squad that made the cross-country trip from Grêmio’s southern home city of Porto Alegre to Salvador, Bahia this week for a 3-1 win over hosts Vitória, fans already began bracing themselves for life after Luan.
Quick to quell their worries, Grêmio president Romildo Balzan insisted that Luan’s absence was merely made in a bid to rest the number 7 from exhaustion and keep him fresh for a much-deserved call-up to the national team to face Ecuador at Grêmio’s home ground on August 31 in a World Cup Qualifier, a strong showing in which would also likely see his value increased on the foreign market.
The 24-year-old first caught the attention of the premier European leagues with a solid showing in Brazil’s successful 2016 campaign on home soil. In an ideal world, as defending champions Palmeiras were able to do with Gabriel Jesus before he headed to the Etihad, second-place Grêmio have stated that they would prefer to sell Luan now but keep him until December when the Brazilian season has been wrapped up.
However, it remains to be seen just how willing European clubs preparing for their own campaigns would wish to wait after meeting a fee for a player that vice-president Odorico Roman insists is better than both Gabriel Jesus and Gabigol of Inter Milan, who were also gold-claiming Olympians yet received less playing time.
Already, Serie A’s Sampdoria have had a €15m offer rejected by Grêmio, who expect to make a profit of at least €25m considering the club only owns 70% of the player’s rights. Simultaneously, Grêmio are already preparing themselves for coping without their star player, with Wednesday night’s victory going a long way to lift spirits over the matter, who provides a versatile option and is able to play on either side of attacking midfield or in the middle as well as centre-forward. In a similar predicament, with Alexis Sanchez set to walk on a free next summer, Arsenal are also reported to be an interested party.
