The Reds will make the 19-year-old Brazilian available for the correct price since they are in the market for a left-sided central defender.
The calm under pressure is not what you notice about Lucas Beraldo right away. or even the center-back’s remarkable passing range. No, it’s the broad, almost maniacal grin he wears as he gets in line for every Sao Paulo game; the grin that has given him the moniker ‘The Joker’.
It is undoubtedly a little peculiar. However, there is a method to the seeming insanity. “For all those who call me crazy when I laugh and smile during the national anthem, it’s a mental technique that I’ve been doing to get into games feeling calmer, to avoid feeling anxious,” Beraldo said in May. “And it’s been working.”
Not a fight there. After a breakthrough season at Sao Paulo, Beraldo’s efforts with high-performance coach Beto Ferraz has paid off handsomely, as the 19-year-old is currently being linked to teams like Liverpool.
The starting point of it all Bernardo was raised in the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo in the city of Piracicaba. Given that his father, Andre, a former defender, had an ice cream shop with his wife Leia Lopes (they now have two!), it was a happy childhood filled with football and milkshakes.
Although Andre gave in to his son’s sweet craving, he maintains that he never pressured ‘Luquinhas’ to play center half like his father did. To be honest, that was somewhat unexpected for him, he said to Globo. Since he was a little child, Lucas has enjoyed football, and when you play as a child, you don’t really have a position—you simply run around a lot.
However, as he began positioning himself on the pitch, he had a preference for playing as a defender at the back. Though he occasionally played midfield and left back, central defender was his preferred position. I therefore did my utmost to assist him.”
Before being signed by Sao Paulo in 2020, Beraldo played with Red Bull Brasil, Uniao Barabarense, and XV de Piracicaba as a young player. Moving to Cotia meant leaving behind his loved ones and “Sonho de Valsa” and “Ovomaltine” milkshakes, but it also gave Beraldo the chance to train at one of the top talent academies in the world of football.
The moment of truth
Beraldo first caught the attention of Sao Paulo supporters during his strong performances in the Copa Sao Paulo of the previous year. Although Endrick’s Palmeiras had defeated their team in the semi-finals of the esteemed Under-20s competition, the youthful center defender was praised for his composure on the ball and his leadership qualities. Even though it resulted in a professional debut in the Copa Sudamericana in 2022, regular first-team football still remained a long way off
But earlier this year, three important defenders—Nahuel Ferraresi, Diego Costa, and Robert Arboleda—were injured, so former coach Rogerio Ceni decided to trust Beraldo. In response, the adolescent put up a series of remarkably composed displays and scored his first goal at the senior level in a 4-2 Brasileiro Serie A victory over Vasco da Gama in May.
He exclaimed, “It’s what I always dreamed of,” at the moment. “I even joked today at home with my [high-performance] coach that I was going to score a goal and the Morumbi was going to chant my name – and it ended up happening!”
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