Lázaro: Gávea, Europe, and Palestra

Hailing from the Flamengo youth ranks, Lázaro has been making a name for himself nationally while wearing a different jersey.

Join us as we trace the trajectory, characteristics, and career prospects of the 22-year-old from Palmeiras.

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Lázaro’s Journey

Lázaro Vinícius Marques, or simply Lázaro, was born on March 12, 2002, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

Although a native of Minas, it wasn’t in his hometown where he reached professional status. Instead, he joined Flamengo’s U17 team in 2018.

He made his debut with the first team in 2020, in a match valid for the Campeonato Carioca.

In the Flamengo youth ranks, he was a true goal-scoring machine, even as a winger, tallying an impressive 23 goals in 24 games for the U17s in 2019.

He continued to excel as he moved up to the U20s. In 2020, at the age of 18, he scored 9 goals in 19 games.

In 2021, still playing in the youth ranks, he scored 14 goals and provided 7 assists in 23 matches. That same year, his call-ups to the senior team became more frequent.

While in 2020 he only played four sporadic games as a professional, in 2021, this number rose to 13. He provided an assist.

In 2022, he gained confidence and gradually carved out his space among the professionals.

Appearing in the vast majority of matches, he made 45 appearances, scored 8 goals, and provided 7 assists. Under the guidance of Dorival Jr., a coach who knows how to handle young players well, he helped win the Copa do Brasil and the Libertadores.

As expected, his young age combined with his good performances caught the attention of Europe.

Almería, a modest Spanish team (currently bottom of La Liga and unlikely to avoid relegation), spared no expense and forked out €7 million for 70% of the Brazilian gem’s rights.

He arrived to play in La Liga in the 22/23 season. His performance was surprising.

Despite arriving just before the season, being young and needing time to adapt, he scored 6 goals in 19 matches.

Almería narrowly avoided relegation by one point and remained in La Liga.

However, in the current season (2023/24), Lázaro couldn’t maintain the same level of performance. Almería went through a series of coaching changes.

The team’s performance can be seen in the table.

As a result, Lázaro played in only 14 matches, starting in 9% of them. He didn’t score any goals or provide assists.

Palmeiras, with a keen eye for potential players, didn’t miss the opportunity.

They noticed that the player wasn’t being properly utilized in Europe. Therefore, they paid €1 million for the loan of the winger until the end of 2024.

Upon arrival, he needed a few matches to convince coach Abel Ferreira that he would be up to the task.

And he did just that. He started to be included in the squad and played some games as a starter.

Last night, he scored one of the goals in Palmeiras’ historic 3-2 comeback victory over Independiente del Valle in the Copa Libertadores.

As if that wasn’t enough, he is a regular in the Brazilian national youth teams, from U16 to U23.

Finally, Lázaro once had a market value of around €7 million. Today, it’s €2.5 million.

Image: Personal Archive

Characteristics and Playing Style

Lázaro is right-footed and plays as a left winger.

He stands at 1.81m and possesses the characteristics that everyone thinks of when mentioning the phrase “Brazilian winger.”

He’s a player with smooth dribbling skills. He tends to move towards the center of the field to clear up the play and seek partnerships with teammates.

He has excellent ball control, keeping it close to his body.

This allows him to disguise his intentions very well. In other words, with a quick change of direction, he can lean his body in a certain direction but swiftly change his axis and switch the direction of his run.

Another interesting characteristic, especially at Flamengo under Dorival Jr., is that Lázaro closes in like a striker when the play is built on the opposite side to his.

This happened when Gabigol was on the field. Despite being a striker, when the play from the wings developed at Flamengo, Gabigol would hold his run to receive at the penalty spot. Meanwhile, Lázaro attacked the space in the six-yard box, providing two options for the assistant.

When it comes to goals, we see Lázaro having ups and downs. His offensive performance in numbers depends a lot on the team’s ability to create scoring opportunities for him. If this doesn’t happen, he struggles a bit to assist his teammates and score goals.

Nevertheless, he’s a player who knows how to find the back of the net. He demonstrated this in the youth ranks as well as at Flamengo and occasionally at Almería.

Now, playing for Palmeiras, he must rediscover this instinct.

For the Verdão, he scored his first goal in yesterday’s historic Libertadores match against Independiente Del Valle.

Image: La Liga

Future Prospects and Assessment

Lázaro has good chances in top-tier international football, provided he can address the points mentioned above.

One aspect to keep an eye on is that, despite being young at 22, the player had to return to Brazil after a season without continuity in Europe.

For many, this could represent a significant restriction for continuing his career in European soil.

However, he possesses several interesting characteristics and plenty of quality to reestablish himself.

In this way, the possibility of playing at a high level in the top teams of European football earns Lázaro a rating of 7.8.

Image: REUTERS/Cristina Vega Rhor

Written by Vitor F L Miller.