To Souza
©IMAGO
After signing Vini Souza (26), VfL Wolfsburg should have their next Brazilian on the hook in the summer. Cleiton (22) is due to come from Flamengo in the winter. Like Souza, the central defender is represented by the Bertolucci Sports consulting agency and, as with the new midfielder, Cleiton’s possible move is also expected, according to one “Kicker“Report that former VfL professional Naldo played a role.
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 | Cleiton |
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As the magazine reports, Cleiton is to be built up in Wolfsburg as an anticipation of the possible imminent departure of Konstantinos Koulierakis (21). There is a commitment in the coming January transfer window, after which the young professional should first acclimatise for a while. Since the 1.91 meter tall defender’s contract with his club from Rio de Janeiro expires at the end of the year, the Bundesliga team would not be required to pay a transfer fee.
Cleiton made his professional debut for Flamengo at the beginning of 2022, but has only made 21 appearances for the first team to date – only 13 times in the starting line-up and only twice with significant playing time in the Série A. He was part of the squad once at the last Club World Cup, but was not used against Esperance in the group stage. Flamengo made it to the semi-finals.
Even if it’s not enough to make a breakthrough in Rio, the Brazilian media can read about Cleiton as a good aerial tackler. He is also said to have a good passing game. There was praise in April last year from former national coach Tite, who was in charge of the Flamengo team at the time. He said: “Bahia (Cleitons nickname because of his home state; editor) is a boy you will be hearing a lot about.”
Wolfsburg’s efforts are unlikely to focus on immediate reinforcements, even though the Wolves have once again had a disappointing start to a Bundesliga season. With new coach Paul Simonis, VfL has only won one win this season and is in 15th place in the table with just five points. It is the third time in the last four seasons that Wolfsburg are in the bottom half of the table at this point in the season.