January will be the key in the race for the title of the Brazilian Championship – six of the ten remaining rounds take place in the first month of 2021- Flamengo, Gremio, Palmeiras, and Vasco have one game less.

The decision-making character increases because Conmebol Libertadores and the Copa do Brasil, in which Palmeiras, Santos, Sao Paulo, and Gremio still participate, also reach their peaks next month, which can interfere in the squads in rounds of the main national dispute.

According to the projection of FiveThirtyEight, a website that specializes in calculations and statistics partner of ESPN, Sao Paulo, with 56 points, has a 61% chance of achievement.

Flamengo, currently third, has one game less, 49 points, and 28% chance of the cup. And Atletico-MG, the second place, has 49 points and a 5% chance of conquest.

2020 has been a rough year for Sao Paulo for most of the part – In the Copa Libertadores they were out in the knockout stages. To make things worse, the club proceeded to bomb out of the second-tier Sudamericana after losing a thrilling tie to Lanus on away goals, having drawn 6-6 over the two legs.

But under the smart coach Fernando Diniz, the Tricolor regrouped after the continental disappointments and focused on the domestic titles, where they are well poised to beat the big guns for the Serie A title and they are also just two steps away from success in the prestigious Copa do Brasil.

Diniz has a boy named Brenner, who has become a sensation back in Brazil.

Brenner is a graduate of Sao Paulo’s academy.

The boy enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2017. In addition to making his senior Sao Paulo debut, he starred for Brazil at the under-17 World Cup in 2017, scoring three times to help his country reach the semifinals, where they were defeated by eventual winners England.

Dorival Junior was the man who integrated Brenner in the Sao Paulo side and since then he continued to show a good eye for goal, scoring in back-to-back games against Corinthians and Madureira with a couple of first-time finishes following a dart to the far post.

Brenner was sent out on loan to Fluminense, for whom he failed to find the net in six outings.

That stint in Rio de Janeiro did little to derail his progress, though, as he netted in just his second game back at Sao Paulo, nodding in a point-blank equalizer against Novorizontino.

Brenner bagged another three goals before embarking on a hugely impressive purple patch in August.

Brenner is not the most glamorous Brazilian striker, but he is more of a natural goal-scorer, someone who has, despite his age, developed a useful knack for popping up in the right place at the right time – he is like Paolo Rossi rather than Ronaldo O Fenomeno.

Several of Brenner’s goals have included a deflection or a ricochet that has brought the ball to his feet, allowing him to quickly finish before defenders have time to react – now that is chicky based on superlative instinct.

Not only has Brenner become renowned for picking up great positions in the box, but he has also proven deadly when given a sniff of the goal. He often operates within the width of the goalposts, which increases his chances of scoring with his favoured left foot, or his head.

As usual, he is under the radar of the top European clubs.

Even though there is a lot of fuss about his link-up with Arsenal, in the Kick-off Met podcast Valentjin Driessen, from the newspaper De Telegraaf, journalist Mike Verweij gives details of the possible negotiation between Sao Paulo and Ajax.

“He [Benner] was offered to Ajax,” Verweij said.

“It should cost 12 million euros plus bonuses. If Ajax want to, they can bring him in.”

The Sports Gazette reported that in addition to Ajax, clubs from England and Spain are also keeping an eye on the young player, but that so far they have only probed the situation and have not signaled with proposals.

Calciomercato.it says the 20-year-old forward is on the radar of Arsenal, along with Juventus, AC Milan, and PSG. And, Arsenal chief Edu has joined the big guns in the race to sign Brenner.

Then comes the best club in the history of football – Real Madrid, who have become the choice of the Brazilians in recent times.

Brenner is under the watch of Florentino Perez.

Goal reported, Brenner is more interested to join Barcelona.

“Out of all the different clubs, Barcelona are one which I would like to play for due to all they represent in the world of football,” he told Sport back in 2018.

“Not just in football terms, but rather as a philosophy and in their playing structure.”

“Right now, my goal is to consolidate my career to help give back to my family after all the sacrifices they have made for me these years. Then the time will come to dream bigger.”

“And who knows… maybe play at Barcelona.”

Like most of the youngsters in Brazil, Brenner dreams of playing in Spain – but given the current state of Barcelona, and the way they mistreated the Brazilian players, Brenner should rethink if Barcelona offer him. Rather, teams like Ajax, AC Milan, Juventus, or Arsenal would be a much better choice than Barca.

 

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