Guilherme Antonio Arana Lopes or simply Guilherme Lopes has been the new kid who is making waves in the Brazilian League. There’s something very exciting about this defender who plays as a left back, which has got some of the big teams of Europe sit up and take note. The 19-year old has already attracted the interests of clubs like Schalke, Shakhtar and some in the French Ligue. The biggest one is, however, Premier League club Tottenham.
Mauricio Pochettino is said to be keen on the player who he regards as a hot prospect for the future. Despite Bundesliga club Schalke making the first contact with Corinthians over the defender, Tottenham have now reportedly held a meeting with the player’s entourage in London according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
Having spent his youth career with Corinthians, the player graduated from its famed youth academy, the 19-year old made his mark by being a vital part of the very successful “Coringão” youth team that won 2014 U20 Campeonato Paulista, the 2014 U20 Campeonato Brasileiro and the 2015 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior.
Arana made his debut for the senior Corinthians side in 2015, having previously been an unused substitute on 12 occasions. His first competitive action came in a 4-3 victory against Sport. After making his debut for Corinthians, he was loaned out to Atletico Paranaense in May 2015 but after only three appearances, he was recalled by his parent club.
Last season, Arana made 12 appearances for the Corinthians senior squad as they won the Campeonato Brasileiro title of 2015. This season, the fullback has already played in 6 games of the Brasileiro with 4 starts, scoring once in the process.
Regarded as one of the most exciting youth prospects in Brazil, the player boasts of having tremendous speed and acceleration with excellent dribbling skills. A true attacking fullback who makes full use of his exceptional stamina and workrate to get up and down the flank all game, the teenager is a very good defender who has the ability to win the ball back and mark opponents.
His timing of tackles allow him to come on top of the duels from which he never shies off. Considering his age, his all-round abilities are the reason why he is rated so highly in his homeland. The most important part of the player’s game is his adaptability which he showcases when on the pitch and in the recent months, there has been a great deal of improvement on his crossing abilities which allowed him to excel further upfront while making the overlapping runs.
Standing at 1.92m, the player’s weakness lies in his aerial ability despite his height which he would need to work on a bit but overall, Arana is a very well rounded defender who has a great future in front of him.
A move to Tottenham would be a bit strange one though as the Lillywhites are well packed in the left back area with Danny Rose being the first choice and Ben Davies as the backup but a move to England is always an exciting prospect and the player has also indicated that he would be willing to move to England and we can see some movement in the January transfer window regarding this particular transfer.
