'Ganso plays at De Bruyne's level' - Neymar's 'big brother' could salvage career at Santos

Almost 10 years have passed since two young sensations took South American football by storm.

In June 2011, Santos won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 48 years.

It was a triumph which owed a great deal to prodigious teenage forward Neymar, but no less to the man he called his "big brother", the exquisite playmaker Ganso.

As well as the Libertadores, Santos lifted three consecutive state championships between 2010 and 2012 and also claimed the Copa do Brasil, making it the club's most successful spell since Pele took them to world fame in the 1960s.

The sky was the limit for their two biggest stars. Football, though, rarely plays out quite as one expects and Neymar and Ganso's diverged shortly after that Libertadores triumph.

Neymar went on to become a superstar at Barcelona and the world's most expensive ever player upon joining Paris Saint-Germain, while Ganso suffered repeated injuries and has spent most of his career in Brazil, with a short (and only occasionally successful) spells with Sevilla and Amiens his only taste of European football to date.

However, at the age of 31, Ganso could be about to return where it all began.

Santos are pushing hard to bring the Fluminense midfielder back to Vila Belmiro after the best part of a decade away from the club, and in the process offer him what might prove his final chance to set his career back on track.

It is not just the player who would benefit from the prospective loan move, which would begin just in time for the start of the Serie A season this weekend.

Santos reached the Libertadores final in January but their first appearance in the tournament decider since 2011 masked the woes of a club that was in dire financial straits, haemorrhaging money as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

And since that final defeat to rivals Palmeiras, the mood on the pitch has largely matched that of the boardroom.

Coach Cuca left after the Copa, and Argentine replacement Ariel Holan lasted barely two months in the post before quitting when disgruntled Santos fans bombarded his apartment building with firecrackers and daubed its walls with threatening messages.

Those supporters were protesting against a catastrophic Paulista state campaign which saw the Peixe eliminated in the first round, winning just three of their 12 games. Results in the Libertadores have not been much better.

Currently third in Group C, the club (now coached by ex-Sao Paulo man Fernando Diniz) must take something from their last match on Wednesday against Ecuador's table-topping Barcelona and hope their result betters that of Boca Juniors at home to last-placed The Strongest in order to stand a chance of progressing.

The presence of Diniz on the bench at least gives Santos some optimism, particularly when it comes to Ganso.

Diniz was in charge of Fluminense when Ganso arrived in Rio de Janeiro from Sevilla and was instrumental in convincing the board of his virtues.

“Ganso for me is a genius,” the coach said to Desimpedidos back in 2019. “He is a guy who plays at [Manchester City star Kevin] De Bruyne's level, in terms of his ingenuity.

“When the ball goes to Ganso, you think that there is nothing else you can do, you've lost it. But he always has a trick up his sleeve.”

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The Peixe are in desperate need of his unique creativity and elegance, having lost influential Venezuelan playmaker Yeferson Soteldo to Toronto FC. Ganso's experience, meanwhile, would be invaluable for Santos' talented but green attacking hopes, such as 19-year-old Kaio Jorge and 16-year-old Angelo.

Their big disadvantage, as mentioned before, is economic. Reports in Brazil suggest that even in the case of a loan deal, Santos would only be able to cover a little less than half of Ganso's hefty salary.

Fluminense, meanwhile, remain quiet on the matter. “I haven't seen anything,” coach Roger Machado said when asked about Ganso's possible exit following Saturday's Carioca State Championship final defeat to Flamengo, which the player himself watched as a non-playing substitute.

“In these days,  haven't had time to follow the news... I didn't want to talk about something that hasn't even reached my ears.”

Despite Machado's denials, the opportunity for Fluminense to ease their salary obligations must be tempting, particularly as Ganso has fallen to third choice in his position behind Juan Cazares and Nene.

Ganso himself also has everything to gain by returning to his boyhood club, who are crying out for a game-changer like him to turn around their fortunes. If nothing else, it is a chance to mend broken bridges with the Santos faithful, who were outraged when he left Vila Belmiro for arch-rivals Sao Paulo in 2012.

The upright wizard who enchanted South America may not have emerged completely unscathed from a decade of frustrated opportunities and injury problems, but enough remains of that remarkable talent who shined alongside Neymar to suggest that Ganso can have a similar impact should he seal a second stint with struggling Santos.