To watch Victor Hugo is to see the face of God

Not really. But the Brazilian midfielder could be on his way to Europe – here's why.

For almost two centuries, the name Victor Hugo has conjured images of political unrest, renaissance-era French architecture and, lest we forget, Russell Crowe warbling as he plunges to his death from a bridge.

Today, Europe is again turning its eyes to a Victor Hugo abroad; although this one is happily playing football in South America, not writing literary epics from exile in the Channel Islands.

That’s about as far as I can stretch this forced analogy before it breaks. Let me introduce the new Victor Hugo: the latest Brazilian midfielder to draw wanting eyes from European football.

And those eyes are multitudinous. South America is proving to be a popular first stop on the conveyor belt to European stardom, and every year more clubs join the race to scour its talent factories.

But only a select few are willing to put in the hard graft of buying and developing these players; those with many millions in the bank are more than happy to swoop in once said diamonds are refined.

The smaller clubs are willing to act as stepping stones because the upside is so large, as the past few years have proven: Nottingham Forest brought in Palmeiras’ Danilo, Wolves signed Flamengo’s João Gomes, while Brighton have, well, dominated the market for quite some time.

And it was Wolves who took the initiative in the 2023 summer transfer window to attempt to sign Gomes’ former teammate. In the tradition of his name, Victor Hugo proved too slippery for the Europeans to catch, and he remains at Flamengo - for now.

But there remains the strong possibility the midfielder will arrive on the continent soon. With his career stalling but talent obvious, he could be exactly the kind of steal so many clubs search South America for. As a great writer once made famous, to love another person is to see the face of God - and many clubs sure love Victor Hugo.

This is why.