Leicester City are absolutely flying in the Championship this season, putting them firmly on course for immediate promotion back to the Premier League, and now they may get the chance to add to their ranks in January.
Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over Milwall saw the Foxes climb back above Ipswich and restore their one-point lead at the top of the Championship table, but what really matters is the 11-point gap to the play-off places. Right now, it looks as if they’ll seal their Premier League return with multiple games to spare, because they look too good for this division.
They’ve won 17, drawn one and lost just three of their first 21 games, scoring 41 times and conceding a mere 14. And yet, manager Enzo Maresca is still seemingly intent on strengthening his squad in January with a move for Sao Paulo’s Lucas Beraldo.
Lucas Beraldo a Leicester target
Beraldo, 20, has been with Sao Paulo for three years now, but the 2023 season (the Brazilian campaign operates according to the calendar year and recently concluded) has seen him make a real breakthrough – 24 of his 27 appearances in the Brazilian Serie A have come since April.
Lucas Beraldo stats last 365 days (2160 mins) | Rank vs other centre-backs (via FBRef) |
|---|---|
Non-penalty goals – 0.04 per 90 mins | 56th percentile |
Progressive passes – 5.38 per 90 mins | 92nd percentile |
Pass completion – 88.7% | 89th percentile |
Progressive carries – 0.67 per 90 mins | 61st percentile |
Tackles – 1.17 per 90 mins | 33rd percentile |
Blocks – 1.50 per 90 mins | 82nd percentile |
Aerial duels won – 1.58 per 90 mins | 17th percentile |
While Sao Paulo only finished 11th in the top flight, they reached the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana (South America’s equivalent of the Europa League), and they won the Copa do Brasil, with Beraldo starting all but two games. Earlier this month, Brazilian outlet UOL Esporte reported that Leicester are trying to sign Beraldo and have gone as far as preparing a £17m package. Sao Paulo have already warned that it won’t be willing to negotiate unless it receives an offer in that ballpark.
Scouts from the Championship leaders watched Beraldo play in a 1-0 win over Red Bull Bragantino in November and were ‘delighted’ by what they saw. Encouragingly for Leicester, Sao Paulo are under pressure to sell players by the end of the year to boost their 2023 accounts, and they know that Beraldo is attracting extensive interest.
Leicester receive Beraldo green light
Now, according to ESPN Brazil, Sao Paulo have indicated to Leicester and other European suitors that they’re ready to hold talks over the sale of Beraldo. The player himself has his ‘bags packed’ at this point, and is expected to seal an exit from the club soon. The question, then, is whether Leicester can see off the rival interest, and convince him to play second-tier football, for six months at least.
Beraldo would arrive with a reputation, in the words of football talent scout Jacek Kulig, as “one of the most talented centre-backs in South America”. He combines the fundamentals of a “pure defender”, including “fearlessness” and “tenacity” in duels, with the qualities of a “ball-playing” centre-half. Described as “elegant and composed” in possession by Kulig, he ranks in the 92nd percentile among positional peers in comparable competitions over the past year for passes attempted (70.63) and progressive passes per 90 minutes (via FBRef).
In this respect, he looks like he suits Maresca’s style of play down to the ground. As data from FBRef shows, only Southampton have played more passes (12,886 vs 12,799) and recorded a higher average possession share (64.6% vs 64.3%) than the Midlands outfit so far this season. This largely stems from his insistence on playing out from the back – again, only Russell Martin’s side have played a lower percentage of goal kicks 40 yards or further (10.6 vs 12). Beraldo, then, would be an astute acquisition, both for the remainder of this season and the years ahead.
