Kauan Basile: How many times does lightning strike in the same place?
Index
The Santos FC academy attracts international attention once again, this time with 9-year-old Kauan Basile.
Brazilian football is full of stars. That’s no news. But one club in particular has a key role in revealing some of the greatest in the sport. Pelé, Coutinho, Robinho, Diego Ribas, Neymar, Ganso, Gabigol, Rodrygo and many others were raised under the stands of Vila Belmiro, home of Santos FC.
The club that so often had to deal with international harassment towards its young players, once again must remain vigilant, as the news begins to spread that a new lightning has struck on Santos soil.
Getting to know Kauan Basile
The kid really has football in his veins. His father is the former Corinthians player, Andrezinho, and his great-grandfather was Nena, defender of the 1950 Brazilian national team.
Kauan Basile, arrived at Santos at the age of 6, playing directly in the U-8, since there was not even a category for his age. Currently, he is in Peixe’s U-11.
With his leftie, Kauan, is recognized by his teammates as a leader on the field and on the court. In addition, he is famous as a top scorer, scoring 26 goals in 7 games in a single tournament for the Santista U-11 futsal, which drew attention to his ability and powerfull shooting, even though he is still very young.
Futsal’s role
Brazilian football owes much of its magic to futsal.
The courts, present in the vast majority of schools and city neighborhoods, are preponderant for the training of players.
Examples of this are the precursor Rivelino, followed by Ronaldinho Gaúcho, Neymar, Robinho, Philippe Coutinho and many others. It is in Brazilian futsal that the young athlete learns to perform short dribbles and explosive moves.
Santos FC knows this very well and keeps Kauan Basile both on the fields and on the courts, so that the player can fully develop on both soils and acquire complementary qualities from each of them.
Contract with Nike
Kauan Basile, aged 8, signed his first contract with the sports company. Therefore, he became the youngest athlete in history to accomplish such a feat.
Stars like Neymar and Rodrygo signed their contracts with Nike when they were 13 and 11 years old, respectively, which demonstrates the expectations placed on Kauan.
Thus, the signed contract has a term of 3 years with automatic extension for another 2 seasons, that is, until he completes 13 years.
Overseas interest in Kauan
The quality of Basile’s game, as expected, caught the attention of European giants.
According to TNT Sports, the young athlete’s father was sought by Barcelona, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, so that, by having an Italian passport, a possible transfer to Europe would be facilitated.
In this way, it is worth reflecting on the power of these great clubs that, through their financial resources, try to guarantee the prospection of potential future stars, but not only that. The clubs, with these moves, also aim to prevent a direct competitor in several tournaments from acquiring the athlete, making the market competition increasingly fierce and even unfair.
On the other hand, Santos does not have many weapons to combat harassment, given that it will only be able to sign a contract with the young promise when the future star is 14. Therefore, the club protects itself as it can, offering a nice structure and a career plan for the young man in order to keep him in its squad until he is eligible to sign his contract.
However, there is no reason for the Alvinegro fan to freak out. Andrézinho, Kauan’s father, guarantees that, at the moment, he does not intend to negotiate a move to Europe and that his plan is to see his son graduates by the youth teams of Peixe.
Expectations for the future
Apparently, over time, talents have emerged earlier and earlier, and with the acceleration of the dissemination of information through social media, we have news of these players when they are still mere children.
This can even generate a certain amount of anxiety, since we will only be able to see Kauan Basile acting professionally in a few years. During this period, a lot can happen.
Neymar, on the one hand, had expectations created about him since he was 14 years old, which only grew with his debut in the Copinha and then in the professional team. It had a fairytale outcome for the Santos fan. Goals, titles, biggest sale in the history of Brazilian football.
On the other hand, there are those that are rarely spoken about. Those who, like Neymar and Kauan, were considered future international stars, but ended their careers without being missed.
Despite the very optimistic projections and the similarities between Kauan Basile and his idols, caution is needed. The path of football is uncertain. He is just a child, walking his first steps both in football and in life.
The field and the court, at this moment, must be a space for fun and formation for the athlete as a person, being essential the supervision of the family and professionals of the club, so that they can shield him from the excesses and harassment of brands, clubs, fans and businessmen .
Therefore, hopefully little Kauan Basile will show his talent through the fields of the sacred ground of Vila Belmiro and around the world. Representing whatever club or national team.
Football lovers are cheering to hear his name again very soon.
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Written by Vitor F L Miller.