Rarely do Real Madrid fail to land their preferred transfer target, but ultimately the Blancos had to admit defeat in their prolonged pursuit of Neymar.
Their dreams of seeing the Brazil forward line up alongside Cristiano Ronaldo at Santiago Bernabeu never came to fruition and the last hopes of putting together that partnership evaporated when the five-time Ballon d'Or winner swapped the Spanish capital for Juventus in 2018.
Now, though, Juventus have succeeded where Madrid could not and will pair Ronaldo with the next wonderkid to come out of Santos' famed academy. What is more, they have clinched themselves in the process one of the best transfer deals of this summer window. Kaio Jorge, 19, underwent his medical in Turin on Wednesday after Juve and Santos agreed a bargain €3 million (£3m/$4m) deal for his services.
It is a paltry sum for a youngster rated one of Brazil's most promising footballers, who has taken South America by storm in the past 18 months but alienated many at Santos with his refusal to extend his contract beyond December, essentially obliging the club to sell him now or risk losing him for nothing in a few short months.
For such a fee the Italian giants have little to lose on this transfer, having beaten out Milan and Benfica to gain his signature. Kaio will begin as their fourth-choice striker behind Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, with time to adapt to his new surroundings and little pressure on his back. Nevertheless, the teenager brings something different to the table.
While inevitable comparisons have been made with Neymar, on the pitch Kaio plays a more central, sacrificial role, holding up the ball in order to play in his team-mates and not forcing his chances.
He has shown however at Vila Belmiro, particularly in Santos' run to the 2020 Copa Libertadores final where he netted five goals in 12 games, that he is more than capable of taking his opportunities when they arise.
“Kaio is a player who, while still young, is playing with more and more maturity,” Santos boss Fernando Diniz remarked to reporters in a recent press conference. “When he plays he looks like he is 27 years old.
“He is a player who understands his role very well, and not just for Santos, that is why he has several European teams after him. Aside from understanding his role, his confidence is sky-high.”
As Diniz suggests, despite his tender age the striker has ample experience when it comes to dealing with pressure.
Santos' sixth-youngest debutant of all-time, having made his first-team bow at just 16, Kaio was unfazed by the demands of last year's gruelling, Covid-interrupted Libertadores campaign and did all he could to steady the ship following that final defeat when, in the middle of a financial crisis, the club were forced to sell key players like Venezuela international Yeferson Soteldo.
His former coach Cuca, who took Santos to that final against Palmeiras, made him the cornerstone of his team as their lone striker, stating back in January: “We are delighted with Kaio.
“He is not just concerned about scoring goals, he works well tactically and he leads our team from the front.”
On paper, then, Kaio appears to be the perfect foil for Juventus' superstar.
While Ronaldo is likely to score goals no matter what the situation around him, the Portuguese ace has generally found his best football when supported by a forward partner happy to let him take centre stage.
Karim Benzema at Madrid and Mario Mandzukic in Cristiano's first Juve season, exceptional players in their own right, understood this perfectly, and gave the forward the tools to run riot in the final third.
Kaio is of course still far from that kind of level, but if he makes the most of his first-team chances the teenager could prove an intriguing option for Massimiliano Allegri as the newly returned boss looks to return the Bianconeri to the Serie A summit and break their Champions League drought in 2021-22.
If nothing else, the young forward could not ask for a better mentor on the pitch than Juve's record-breaking talisman, still making defences across Europe tremble at the age of 36.
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