A right-footed left-winger with a quick brain, even quicker feet and a penchant for creating something out of nothing; The comparisons between a young Marlos Moreno and Brazil superstar Neymar were not only inevitable, they were actually understandable.
“I watched some of his first matches and was soon captivated,” the renowned South American expert Tim Vickery told SBS Sport in 2016 after a teenage Moreno exploded onto the scene with Atletico Nacional.
Moreno, Vickery claimed, was ‘the best young talent on the continent’ at the time. And that’s saying something, given the constant stream of future superstars emerging from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Colombia.
“He was cutting in from a starting position wide on the left, showing fluid movement, excellent one-against-one skill and the capacity to get into the box and score,” Vickery adds. “He was quickly proving that he could perform in big matches.
“But every bit as impressive has been his all-round play. His capacity to work anywhere across the attacking line, to find space, to pick the right pass, to play intelligent one-twos and to operate as part of a team. He has been exceptional.”
“Not since the likes of Sergio Aguero, Alexis Sanchez and Neymar have I been so enthusiastic about a young player.”
That was six years ago. Flash forward to the summer of 2022 and Moreno is now 25 years of age. Aguero, Sanchez and Neymar were strutting their stuff for some of the biggest football clubs on planet earth at this stage of their careers. Moreno, in contrast, is a transfer target for Sunderland, Norwich and Bristol City (AS).
So it’s tempting to wonder what went wrong. Why does a footballer of such wondrous raw talent find himself on the shopping list of a club who have spent the last four years in the third tier of English football?
Marlos Moreno was once dubbed ‘the next Neymar’
Well, Manchester City must take their share of the blame.
The Premier League champions paid nearly £5 million to sign Moreno back in 2016 before farming him out on a series of short-term loans (The Guardian). As a result, in the last six years, the eight-time Colombia international has played for no fewer than seven different clubs in five different countries. Even Neymar himself would have struggled to fulfil his potential in such testing, ever-changing circumstances. Rarely has one player been more in need of a proper home.
But while Moreno might never hit the heights he threatened to reach as a twinkle-toed teen with the world at his feet, there is no reason why he cannot still carve out a more-than respectable career at a more-than decent level.
Moreno’s last couple of seasons – on loan in Belgian football – have been his most impressive on European soil. He even contributed ten goals and assists during 25 matches for Lommel SK in 2020/21.
Now, potential is a dangerous word in football. But, at just 25, Moreno certainly has a lot left in the tank.
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