Talent calendar
©TM/Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues
Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues has had two eventful years. The New Zealand offensive talent quickly rose to the professional team at Wellington Phoenix, took part in the U17 World Cup and finally made his debut in the Australian A-League as the youngest player in the club’s history. Coincidence also came to his aid.
Sloane-Rodrigues has football in his blood. He was born in Hong Kong, where his father Jorginho was finishing his career, which took him to Russia, Finland and South Korea, among other places, with the Citizen Athletic Association. As a child, however, he returned to his mother’s homeland in New Zealand, where he grew up in Auckland. There he started playing football at East Coast Bays AFC and Auckland United FC before moving to the youth academy of A-League club Wellington Phoenix at the age of 14.
Sloane-Rodrigues has really taken off since the beginning of 2023. First he triumphed with New Zealand at the U17 OFC Championship and thus qualified for the World Cup in the same year. At Wellington Phoenix, which increasingly relies on its own talent, he made it from the fourth team to the first team within four months. He was in the right place at the right time, as he later summed it up succinctly.
Professional coach Giancarlo Italiano discovered Sloane-Rodrigues by chance at a third-team game in the Capital Premier League that he didn’t want to watch. “I wasn’t planning on watching his game, which was after the reserves. I just happened to be there and watched him,” said the 41-year-old, who brought in the talent in preparation for the 2023/24 season. “I liked what I saw.”
Sloane-Rodrigues ‘pretty shocked’ by jump to pros
Sloane-Rodrigues was “pretty shocked” at the news – at the time he had not even featured for the reserves, who play in the top-flight National League Championship. “I was a bit confused, but the coach had watched a game of mine and was impressed with my style of play.” The move was “pretty demanding,” but the nimble winger quickly made an impression.
Oskar Zawada (28), now active at RKC Waalwijk, was asked on Instagram who he thought was the best young player at the academy. The top scorer responded with a picture of Sloane-Rodrigues. After the preparation, he initially went into the reserves for more match practice at a high level, but shortly after the turn of the year Sloane-Rodrigues was rewarded with his first nominations for the professionals. In March, against Melbourne City FC (0-1), he became the youngest player to make his A-League debut for the title-fighting club at 16 years, eight months and six days.
Sloane-Rodrigues has indicated over the last two years that he has the potential to be a difference-maker – while doing justice to his Brazilian heritage and Samba football. He is described as a flamboyant offensive player, a mix of winger and playmaker. With his creativity, technique and agility as well as his good ball control and dribbling, he remains an unpredictable player who can create a spectacle.
With Samba football: Sloane-Rodrigues as a difference player
Sloane-Rodrigues can also make a difference for his coach. “Simply put, I would say I’m looking for something out of the norm, something different,” Italiano explained. That’s exactly what Sloane-Rodrigues brings to the table. “He was very confident on the ball, ran a lot and always looked forward, he is technically very good and I just took him to training the next day.”
He can still improve his qualifications, his decision-making and the general consistency of his performance. In addition – but not surprising at his age – Sloane-Rodrigues still needs to improve physically in order to sustainably assert himself against seasoned professionals. But he also knows that himself: “I definitely have to get more physical, because the more you go up, the more physical it becomes.”
If he continues to train and play like this, he has a bright future ahead of him.
Italiano predicts that Sloane-Rodrigues will have a great career in this case. “If he continues to train and play like this, he has a bright future ahead of him,” he explained. “I get excited when I see a player like that because I think if he plays in this environment for at least a year and gets minutes in the A-League, in two years everyone will be talking about him as the next big thing.”
Shortly after his debut, Sloane-Rodrigues received a professional contract that ties him to Wellington Phoenix until 2027. In the summer he also won the U19 OFC Championship with New Zealand and can therefore look forward to the U20 World Cup in 2025. First of all, for him it’s about “scoring goals, working hard and not losing his head,” said Sloane-Rodrigues, who, in addition to football, also has to finish his school education. Due to his busy schedule, he now only completes these online. He said he missed too many classes at Wellington High School. “I take my computer with me and try to do my work,” but his intact environment is still important to him. “I still go to school sometimes and visit my friends during lunch breaks and play a bit of football with them.”
Every day from December 1st to 24th, Transfermarkt will present a talent from the 2007 or 2008 vintage from a different country. Sponsors, data scouts and users act as experts and report interesting facts about 24 young players in our talent calendar who you should keep a close eye on in the future. For example with the TM Watchlist.