Reported Arsenal target Tiago Tomas has replaced Cristiano Ronaldo in the record books with his latest Sporting Lisbon goal this weekend, as reported by O Jogo.
This is one record Ronaldo can’t take back – unless the Juventus superstar finds some way to bend the essence of time to his will.
And while we’re not entirely ruling that out at this stage – what Ronaldo wants Ronaldo usually gets after all – CR7 will just have to accept the latest starlet to rise through the ranks at the Estadio Jose Alvalade has bettered his achievements from that breakthrough campaign in 2002/03.
A toothy, curly-haired Ronaldo scored five times that season.
Tomas, however, has gone one step further, netting his sixth during Sporting’s 1-0 triumph over Tondela on Saturday.
According to O Jogo, 18-year-old Tomas is the youngest player to score six goals in a single season for the Lisbon giants since 1984.
“He is an intelligent and balanced young man who has the quality and characteristics to play in various positions,” Sporting coach Ruben Amorim told A Bola.
“He is a player who is not very tall or strong in physical terms but he is intelligent in his positioning, he’s a tremendous help for the team when they don’t have the ball, and he has tremendous defensive availability.”
Arsenal famously missed out on a young Ronaldo 18 years ago and it seems they are desperate to stop history repeating itself.
According to The Sun, Arsenal are on the verge of tying up a £20 million summer deal for Tomas. The Portugal U21 international has a £52 million release clause in his contract but, amid a concerning financial situation, Sporting are apparently willing to accept a much lower fee.
The trail has grown cold in the past few weeks but, if Tomas does follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps with a big-money move to England long before his 20th birthday, he will depart a modern-day legend.
Tomas’s winner on Saturday means Sporting are on the verge of the title – their first since 2001/02, when Ronaldo was merely a teenage show pony desperate to make his mark.
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