Santos striker Kaio Jorge is now free to sign a pre-contract agreement and Premier League clubs Arsenal and Wolves have already expressed their interest in the ‘new Neymar’, as reported by Gazeta Esportiva.
Eight years after selling the most talented Brazilian footballer of his generation to Barcelona for a cool £49 million, Santos face the prospect of losing a man many have labelled the second coming of Neymar – for nothing.
“Both the player and his family have come to the conclusion it is time to go to Europe,” Santos president Andres Rueda said in May when quizzed about Jorge’s future.
And while Santos aren’t ready to accept defeat just yet, there’s a growing acceptance that Jorge has passed his apprenticeship and is now ready to jump in at the deep end on the other side of the Atlantic.
Will Kaio Jorge join Arsenal or Wolves on a free?
In March, Calciomercato reported Arsenal were looking to bring another samba starlet to north London, perhaps inspired by the remarkable success of Gabriel ‘talent of the century’ Martinelli.
Top-flight rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers made a £13 million bid of their own a few weeks ago, as reported by A Bola, while Jorge has also been linked with the likes of Juventus, Ajax, AC Milan, Napoli and Lazio.
Santos had hoped to bring in about £18 million for the teenage striker.
But after failing to agree a new deal with Jorge, their prized asset can now sign a pre-contract agreement with a new club before leaving on a free transfer in January 2022.
Don’t be surprised, then, if Santos try to cash in on Jorge while they can, knowing the final two months of this transfer window represent their last chance to earn a substantial sum for a talented number nine who has also been compared to a former Ballon D’Or winner, as well as Neymar.
“A couple of months ago they asked me, in an interview, the name of a player who is ready for Europe. I answered Kaio Jorge,” former Brazil, Napoli and Milan star Andre Cruz said a few weeks ago.
“He has technique, movement and, above all, he is a goalscorer. Who does Kaio Jorge look like? In him I see a little of Andriy Shevchenko.”
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