The stadium wasn’t much to speak of, a municipal bowl an hour outside of Sao Paulo quite run down. And it was raining, which was an unpromising start. The team playing was the Under 20s of Ituano, then a fourth division club in Brazil.
But any global football scout worth his salt will take in the Taca Sao Paulo in January every year, an Under 20 tournament for the pro teams in the region. Given that the city itself has a population of 12 million, there is no more fertile conurbation in the world for young football talent.
It’s here you have a decent chance of spotting the next 16-year-old Brazilian star. Still, watching Ituano Under 20s is a level of geekery beyond which even the most committed scout is usually prepared to venture.
But Francis Cagigao, legendary former Arsenal scout responsible for bringing Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Emi Martinez to the club, has a hunch. An itch that just won’t settle. About a year ago, his Brazilian scout Everton Gushiken had sent him some low-quality iPhone footage of a kid, then 15 or 16 playing for this fourth division side’s youth team. Cagigao had seen something he liked in that player. Gushiken wasn’t one hundred per cent convinced but Cagigao told him to keep tracks on the teen.
That is the reason why Cagigao was at this game. As he settled in the stands, in the rain, he was alone. No-one noticed the unassuming London-born, Spanish-heritage middle-aged man, once an Arsenal youth player, taking an unusual interest.
Gabriel Martinelli has been a pivotal player for Arsenal during their Premier League title bid
Ex-Gunners scout Francis Cagigao (right) saw something in the Brazilian when he was young
Call it a scout’s instinct, call it intuition or the knowledge acquired from 30 years of watching teenage players, but Cagigao knew the minute he saw Gabriel Martinelli. The 17-year-old hadn’t even played that well, up against 19-year-olds and struggled to get in the match.
‘He didn’t have the best of games, recalls Cagigao. ‘He was taken off after 70 minutes. But he had no fear. You could see that though things weren’t coming off for him. He was making absolutely the right runs but not being played in. He had the movement, timing, pace, aggression, tenacity — he wouldn’t get pushed off the ball, even at 17. His technique wasn’t magnificent but he had attributes you weren’t seeing in English players. I said: “I like him. Can we bring him in for a week’s training?”’
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka pictured as a child
This is Cagigao’s favourite place: a football pitch well away from the crowds, no data analysts feeding him stats. Just him, a run-down stadium, one man and his dog and a future superstar. ‘Pure scouting,’ he calls it. There were no stats.
‘Stats save you time in filtering,’ says Cagigao. ‘It means you can take 30 flights a year rather than 200. We had stats and analysis at Arsenal but on this deal, we didn’t work with stats. When assessing a young, emerging talent, there is no substitute for the trained eye, a former player or coach who has an analytical mind.’
But Cagigao now had a problem. Ituano didn’t want Martinelli to go for a week’s trial at Arsenal, which was odd, as transfer fees from a top European team are normally enough for South American clubs to usher their youngsters off to the departure lounge. Days later, Cagigao heard Martinelli was off to Barcelona for a week’s trial instead. ‘I thought I’d lost him,’ says Cagigao. Deliciously, from an Arsenal perspective, Martinelli would also spend two separate weeks at Manchester United. They sent him packing, as did Barcelona. Cagigao was back on the plane.
Martinelli (second left) impressed Arsenal’s scouts whilst playing for Brazilian side Ituano
The young Brazilian is pictured next to French international and World Cup winner Paul Pogba
‘I didn’t want people saying: “Frannie, you’ve pulled him out of the bag! What’s going on here?” I wanted to be able to say: “No, it’s not just me saying it.”’ This time it was a two-hour drive out to Itu, where Ituano play. The stadium is not much to look at, a bowl for 18,000 with a roof on one stand. You don’t find many world-class footballers here, though Middlesbrough’s Juninho is club president and he started out at the academy. But none of the Sao Paulo giants had noticed Martinelli.
Except by now Cagigao was no longer incognito. Everyone knew why he was there. A friend of Martinelli’s family had made their home available to Cagigao for the meeting with Gabriel and his father, Joao. But when he arrived Cagigao recalls there being around 10 other agents and hangers-on in the house. I said: “I’m not pulling the trigger if I can’t speak to him alone, I’m going back to London”. In the end the father and Gabi said: “We’ll speak alone”. And I was blown away. I’ve never had a meeting with a player and his family as convincing as that, since meeting Cesc Fabregas.
‘They were brilliant, humble, down-to-earth people. The kid was intelligent, engaging, a good listener. The dad was saying: “Look Fran, it’s Gabi’s life. Gabi better answer the questions. I don’t want him down line saying that I ruined his life”. And Gabi wanted to talk about football, his game. He was a quick learner, which is key nowadays. The meeting on top of everything else made me think: “This is it!” I walked out and called Raul [Sanllehi, then Arsenal’s chief executive] and said: “I’ve no doubt. This boy is going to be a top player. Let’s just bloody sign him”.’
A £4m fee was discussed. By the time Cagigao had got back to London it was £6m. Before the deal was finally done there was one hoop Arsenal and Cagigao had to jump through. About the same time as Gushiken had spotted 16-year-old Martinelli, Steve Morrow, then in charge of Arsenal’s academy, insisted Cagigao come and watch his U16 team.
Cagigao previously scouted Cesc Fabregas (pictured), Robin van Persie and Emiliano Martinez
The Brazilian star (bottom) has forged a formidable relationship with Saka (top) this campaign
Saka and Martinelli have scored a combined 26 Premier League goals for Arsenal this season
‘As part of our due diligence we always wanted to compare our targets to what we have in the academy,’ said Morrow. As such, it was important international scouts like Cagigao knew who was coming through. ‘We had two or three but Bukayo Saka was one of those and I told Fran that I really rated this boy and was recommending he not just get a scholarship but a pro contract.’
Cagigao said: ‘Steve was saying; “We’ve got his great left back in the team, you’ve got to come down and watch him, Fran. He’s 15, he’s going to be a winger but he outstanding.”
‘I remember watching him and thinking: “Wow! Steve wasn’t wrong about this boy”.’ Morrow added: ‘Bukayo was a quiet, unassuming boy but had an inner confidence which you only see in special players. You knew the playing and physical qualities were there. Maybe some coaches looked at him and only saw the physical qualities. But he was so composed when in difficult positions, you were struck with how confident he was on left or right foot, and he was able to make good decisions under pressure.’
There were other similarities with Martinelli. ‘Right from the start his personality and character stood out,’ said Morrow. ‘His family had humility their expectations weren’t through the roof. You know what type of people you’re dealing with when family are speaking about education and personal development, areas other than football.’
Christian faith is central to the family dynamic, Saka relaying how reading the Bible daily helped him get through the World Cup. ‘He hasn’t changed,’ said Morrow, who worked for the FA developing young players after Arsenal. ‘When I was at St George’s Park with England and he came into the squad, he came up and gave me a big hug.’
Martinelli gave Trent Alexander-Arnold a host of issues during Arsenal’s 2-2 draw at Liverpool
Cagigao agreed with Morrow’s analysis. ‘When one of those comes along all you want to say to people is: “Don’t f*** it up!” He had natural ability and great personality.’
Saka’s progress was startling. ‘What maybe surprised me was how quickly he progressed when he came to the main training ground at London Colney with the Under 18s,’ said Morrow. ‘Often it takes to time to fit in. U18 players are sometimes asked to train with the first team and it’s hard to adapt to the speed of play. But he got that immediately.’
£6m might seem like loose change in football but were they really going to invest that in an 18-year-old wide player from another continent, when they had something as good in their own backyard?
Cagigao was adamant, and they now terrorise defences weekly on either wing.
source: dailymail.co.uk
