Piazon scored his first goal for Chelsea youngsters against PSG in pre-season yesterday. What do you need to know about him?
Chelsea young players have impressed so far this summer and with players such as Lukaku, Hazard, McEachran, Bertrand and more on the way with the impending move of Oscar it was no surprise to see another young name bagging himself a senior goal on their pre season tour of the USA. So, apart from being an absolute must buy on FIFA 12. Just who exactly is Lucas Piazon?
Here are 5 facts about last night’s goalscorer against Paris Saint Germain.
The next Kaka
Born on the 20th January 1994 Piazon is just 18 years old and can play anywhere across the frontline, as a winger, striker but is expected to become a ‘Kaka’ like player in the attacking midfield. Piazon however disagrees and thinks their styles of play are completely different with Piazon claiming that he is only compared to Kaka because they both played for Sao Paulo and simply look similar.
Success on English soil
At only 18 Piazon actually has a decent amount of success on English soil already. In 2009 whilst at Sao Paulo he travelled to Manchester to compete at the Premier Cup, United’s global youth team competition. They won the competition beating Werder Bremen in the final. Last season he played a part in Chelsea’s FA Youth cup triumph, notably scoring the winner against Doncaster Rovers in the 3rd round, and leading the club to victory in the trophy, instrumental against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the semi-final.
International success
He boasts a pretty impressive record at Brazilian youth level as well with a hatful of goals for the youth teams including 9 in 15 appearances for Brazil’s under 17 side.
Recognition
After being highlighted for a goal he scored against Arsenal for Chelsea’s reserves in 2011 he began to gain more press recognition. Not being cheap at around £5 million, Piazon is a heady investment from the Blues. This investment seems to finally be paying off as last season he was named Chelsea’s Young Player of the Year award following in the footsteps of Lassana Diarra, Robert Huth and John Terry.
A Chelsea fan
Piazon has also admitted to being a Chelsea fan from an early age. Not only a Chelsea fan but an English fan, preferring a move to the Premier League despite a bid on the table from Juventus that would have pulled at his Italian roots.
There is no doubting the boy is talented, but the big question is whether he can break through to make a big impact at Chelsea with all the expenditure being outlayed on new players at the Bridge. Will he be given opportunities in the League Cup or the Premier League itself? Or is a loan move on the cards. What do you think is best for Piazon’s progression?
What do you make of Lucas Piazon? Or any of the other Chelsea youngsters?
images: © Tom Cuppens, © Jason Bagley
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