Colorado won the competition with São Paulo and closed the contract on loan from center forward Wesley Moraes. The 25-year-old Brazilian belongs to Aston Villa and was on his second spell at Club Brugge (BEL), where he emerged in European football. It has gameplay characteristics that fit very well into what Alexander Medina thinks, but it needs to pick up the pace. The bet is very valid!
Wesley has only taken to the field 12 times in the last 24 months, just three as a starter, two of them in the Villans’ Under-23 team. The forward from Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, suffered a torn ligament in his right knee in January 2020, in a game for the Premier League. After a complicated recovery, he only returned to work in April 2021.
Recently, at Brugge, he didn’t have a long streak of games. There have only been six matches since September. In Colorado you will have to have a special training plan, and effective monitoring to reduce the physical damage caused by so long inactive and infrequent games. You will have a few months to get in shape for the most important period of the season.
Wesley Moraes playing for Aston Villa
Imagem: Action Images via Reuters/Matthew Childs
With 1.91m and 86kg, Wesley Moraes played four minutes with the national team shirt in a friendly against Argentina, in November 2019. Tite had the center forward on the radar to add an offensive valence missing in the team. A most typical 9 in the area. More physical imposition and stature. With these requirements, it was purchased for R$ 105 million in July 2019 by the Birmingham club.
It was revealed by Itabuna, from Bahia, and ended up bought by Terencin, from Slovakia, in 2015. It didn’t take long to stand out in the previous stages of the Champions League and the local championship, so much so that it caught the attention of Brugge five months later. The Belgian club acquired it in January 2016 and enjoyed its football for four seasons.
He was national champion in Slovakia and Belgium six times between Cups and Leagues. He scored 38 goals in 136 games for Brugge. At Terencin, he scored eight times in 22 matches. At Aston Villa, he celebrated six goals and provided an assist in 28 games. He has the level to reach South American football and be an important tool in the Gauchos’ offensive system.
As I explained here, Alexander Medina, Inter’s new coach, in the work he did at Nacional and Talleres, showed himself to be a fan of direct play and more physical to attack. Wesley works well for getting this kind of long pass to shave the head or shore up the ball aiming for a teammate. It can also hold the ball in a game backwards. It has a lot of strength.
Wesley receiving a hot call and positioning his body with his back to the marker, aiming to hold the ball
Image: Rodrigo Coutinho
This is not a striker with such high technical refinement, but he is far from compromising when he needs to associate with his teammates outside the area. Even though he is a very tall athlete, he is not a slow player. It has mobility in short spaces and wide strides to speed up movements in counterattacks.
Short diagonal between the defenders to receive in depth and finish. Another constant movement
Image: Rodrigo Coutinho
It helps a lot in the defensive moment. Good reaction time when losing the ball and intensity in the marking approach. It almost always operates in the central region of the field. Working as a pivot, seeking the area, and making short diagonals between the defenders to receive and depth.
Makes good decisions in play definition areas and positions effectively within the area. You can improve your submissions and even have a little more lust in the quest for goal. Sometimes he seems to be content with participating in good offensive plays, serving teammates, and not necessarily swinging the net.
