Reported Arsenal target Kaio Jorge is a “goalscorer” with similarities to Andriy Shevchenko, former Serie A star Andre Cruz has told Napoli TV, via I Am Naples.
The Gunners faithful will certainly hope Jorge can adapt to life in the Premier League better than Shevchenko did.
The Ukrainian goal-machine is one of the most infamous flops in the history of the division. His Chelsea career was littered with high-profile misses and niggling injuries as a striker devoid of confidence struggled to cope with a British-record £30 million price tag.
A fit and firing Shevchenko, however, was a different beast entirely. A fearsome, venom-filled viper of a centre-forward.
The 2004 Ballon D’Or winner scored a remarkable 173 goals in 296 games during his trophy-laden first spell at AC Milan.
Santos starlet Kaio Jorge, then, has a lot to live up to if the reported £18 million Arsenal target really is the second coming of Shevchenko.
“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,” says Cruz, the former Brazil, Napoli and Milan striker.
“He has technique, movement and, above all, he is a goalscorer. The Italian championship, however, is difficult. He will have to adapt to the mentality.
“Who does Kaio Jorge look like? In him I see a little of Abel Balbo (a 1990 World Cup finalist with Argentina) and a little of Shevchenko.”
In March, Calciomercato reported Edu’s Arsenal were looking to bring in another fresh-faced Brazilian two years after the inspired arrival of a little-known teen by the name of Gabriel Martinelli.
Jorge is expected to cost a cut-price fee of £18 million with his Santos contract expiring in December but, according to Tuttomercatoweb, Napoli are in pole position to secure his sought-after signature.
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