The Shortlist: Igor Jesus
A progressive, talented number six for your shortlists.
Dear readers,
We founded SCOUTED with one goal: to introduce readers to the next generation of football players through great writing and professional scouting.
Right now, via SCOUTED50, I think we’re succeeding in delivering depth and quality - the best on the internet, if I may. But S50 profiles take our scouts a long time, and each is so meticulous and detailed they can be somewhat daunting to read.
I want SCOUTED to be the best place to discover the next generation, whether you want to go into the weeds on a player’s off-the-ball physical data or not.
Because sometimes you just want someone you can trust to tell you straight, in five minutes or less, that this guy is really good, and here’s why.
That’s what I’ll be doing here, on my new regular newsletter, The Shortlist.
Every week I’ll be talking to a scout or journalist from across the globe, and asking them to add a name to The Shortlist. They’ll give you a quick, eye-test lowdown and make the case for why the player should be on your radar. Then you can add the name to your shortlist, whether you’re a budding scout or an FM24 player, safe in the knowledge they have the SCOUTED seal of approval.
Imagine, when you fired up a player’s profile on Football Manager, that profile included trusted notes by a real scout who’s watched the player in the flesh. The goal? To build a collection of such profiles for your perusal.
You get the idea. This is the very first edition of The Shortlist. Enjoy.
Tom
Nathan Joyes is a writer and editor specialising in South American football. He is the founder of The Copa Club.
Hey, Nathan. Who’s your pick for The Shortlist?
Igor Jesus, a number six for Flamengo, in Brazil.
You seem to have a thing for sixes from Brazil.
Yeah, it’s my position of choice. They’ve obviously become very popular and I'm sure that fad will end at some point, but I will still be hammering on about them if they’re from South America, especially Brazil. But Igor Jesus’ profile is really intriguing and I think he’ll probably kick on over the next couple of years. Which I'm sure we'll get into.
Quick links: Igor Jesus
Transfermarkt
SofaScore
Right. Why should people be excited about this guy?
He’s a really positive number six who builds play intelligently from the back. Lots of big clubs are looking to pull young sixes from South America and plug them straight into the first team, so there’s every chance he’ll be hot property soon.
Can you explain what it’s like to watch him play?
His game has completely change as he's moved across to the senior side. At Under-20 level he was a number six, but more of a box to box player - he scored a fair few goals getting onto the end of crosses from runs into the box like a number eight. He had long-range passing from deep, he loved to pick the ball up from the centre-backs straightaway and was almost Steven Gerrard-esque in terms of just wanting to receive a two-yard pass and then spraying it - but then following it by bombing up the pitch.
But he’s been a lot more reserved in his approach since he graduated to the first team. He looks to take minimal touches on the ball. The manner he picks it up or lets it roll into either his left or his right foot, and his body shape, allows him just to pass it straightaway, just take one touch.
For Flamengo’s Under-20s, he had this nice skillset where he wanted to get up the pitch, he had quick feet, he wanted to win the ball in a way that set him up to do something positive with it. He’s very tactical: “Okay, if I can't make this tackle here and now, I’ll wait one or two strides to nick the ball so I can progress with it in an attacking manner.”
It comes across as quite lethargic, but his body feints allow him to bide the time to always pay forward-thinking balls. It’s emblematic of a lot of confidence.
Online you’ll see a lot of people going on about “hey, I found the next number six, his passing percentage is 98%”. But when you watch them, they're just racking that up because they know people will look at the tally. Jesus is completely different. He has high stats, but he's playing the ball directly through the middle or to his wingers constantly. The way he glides into position, always looking to play an attacking ball, really appeals to me.
It'll be interesting to see if the confidence we saw with the Under-20’s carries into senior football - if it does, we’ve got a seriously talented player here.
+ quick-tempo distribution
+ vertical passing
+ smart ball-winner
Can you make a contemporary comparison?
It's probably lazy, but Moisés Caicedo. This side of the world, we still have an old-school mindset when a South American player comes across: ‘is he physical enough?’
There's obviously a lot more to South American players, games and culture, but you only have to look at Jesus and the way he operates in the middle to know yeah, like Caicedo, he is physical enough.
Caicedo bossed it at Under-20 level and in the Copa Libertadores, so their paths to senior football were similar. Their skillsets are slightly different, but the manner in which Caicedo builds play is close to how I think Jesus would fit in at a top team; if we're gonna go for dizzy heights, there's no reason he shouldn't aim for a top six club.
What’s his career been like so far?
Jesus’ career path has been slightly different; he is 21 and this is his first year in the senior squad, so he’s a late bloomer. And he was actually released from Goiás (Esporte Club), when he was 18. Flamengo snapped him up and he became captain for their Under-20 side.
For people who don't know the Brazilian game, Under-20 football is taken very seriously. It's a huge deal. As a Nottingham Forest fan I have to bring up Murillo - he'd only made like 25, 26 appearances for Corinthians’ first-team, but he'd been absolutely smashing it for Corinthians Under-20’s and it was those performances that predicated his move straight to the Premier League. Now look at him.
So U-20 football in Brazil is a really high standard, and a great way for people to see who's ready to step up to the senior game. There isn't too much of a difference. It's very physical. It's very competitive. And the fact that Goiás didn't see anything in Jesus and Flamengo did - I find that fascinating.
What’s his career like right now?
He's not had the easiest time since moving to the senior side. He’s playing with a ton of superstars: Nicolas De la Cruz, Gerson and Erick Pulgar all play in his position. Fortunately, the Brazilian schedule is so hectic that rotation will probably see him play.
That said, it’s still up to Tite to put him on the pitch. Which is not a given.
What’s the immediate future like for him?
Whether he plays or not, I think he moves on - similar to say, Matheus França, who moved to Crystal Palace because he wasn’t getting game time in Brazil. If França had stayed at Flamengo, he probably would have later moved to a smaller European side or stayed in Brazil; players sometimes only have a short window before they're deemed too old or haven't nailed down a natural position.
Tite is such a pragmatic manager. He’s very sensible, he loves to play his preferred style and players. So when you get an opportunity under him, you have to take it. Jesus’ first game of the season was away in the Libetadores to Millanarios, and he was pulled at halftime. He really struggled in the altitude. So it's all about finding out how to actually get minutes on the pitch.
If he is rewarded, or if there's an injury or two - or say when De la Cruz goes to the Copa America, for example, as the Brazilian season continues through that period - that opportunity will open. If he is getting minutes here and there, there's no reason a club like Palace couldn't take a chance on him. He’d be a bargain at somewhere between £10-15million, and clubs like Wolves, Brighton, Forest or Palace are willing to take that risk.
He's physical, he's big, he's got Brazilian skills, he ticks all the boxes. Just as Goiás didn't see what Flamengo saw, another club could do the same.
Imagine Jesus reaches his final form. If I locked you in a glass box and wouldn’t let you out until you’d recommended him to a top club, which club would it be?
I think I’d be locked in the box a long time trying to make that decision. His long-term aim would be a top-six, top-eight club in the Premier League. I did make a few notes around his suitability for Serie A, too, but the two clubs that have most often acted as stepping stones to the Premier League for South Americans are Benfica and Porto. The language, the culture, the Champions League; Portugal is a perfect first destination.
But, gun to my head - I remembered recent debate on social media about Spurs, who are still looking for their next number six. I know football moves very quickly, but if Jesus proves himself over the next 18 to 24 months, there's no reason he couldn't go to a team like that.
Look at João Gomes, former Flamengo midfielder, who moved to Wolves and now has Arsenal seriously sniffing around him. I wouldn't have envisioned that a couple of years ago; he was talented and deserved the move to the Premier League, but Wolves have proven the perfect place for him to develop.
Top four, top six clubs still aren’t willing to gamble. They want other teams to do that for them. It’s impossible to project too far, but I think Spurs would be a good fit.
Sensible move: FC Porto, SL Benfica
Top transfer: Tottenham Hotspur
THE SHORTLIST 2024: In future editions I’ll collate the full list here, so you can click around and explore. But there’s literally just one player on it right now and you’ve just finished reading that.
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Another brilliant idea lads