At just 16 years of age, remarkably, Maximiliano Romero is already considered Argentina’s next big star, with some even calling him the New Messi.
Although he hasn’t made his top-flight debut yet, Romero already has a number of heavyweight admirers interested in his services. Born on 9th January 1999,the centre-forward and self confessed Falcao fanatic has been performing impressively for Vélez’s youth academy. An admirer of Maxi for quite some time, Arsene Wenger is just one of many hoping to secure his signature, and several media sources in Argentina report talks with Arsenal have reached an “advanced stage.”
According to reports, Romero would remain in Argentina for two more years, before making the switch to the Emirates at the beginning of 2017, some time around his 18th birthday.
Dubbing a teenage footballer the ‘new’ anything is dangerous, let alone the ‘new Messi’.
Pele famously said this about a well known, young talent, “He can surpass my own achievements and we have to thank God that another Pele has landed on Santos”,
Who was he talking about? Why Robinho, of couse.
The praise-laden remark was made back in 2003, a time when Brazil was in awe ofthis immense talent. With a low sense of gravity and more tricks than an inebriated David Blaine, Robinho was destined for great things. Shortly after receiving the Pele stamp of approval, much to the delight of the Brazilian media, the golden child was attracting attention from Barcelona and AC Milan – two of the the biggest names in world football.
In 2005, at the age of 21, the São Paulo native moved to Real Madrid for a cool €30 million. Rewarding him with the much coveted number 10 shirt, the Brazilian replaced Luis Figo, the Portuguese legend who swapped Madrid for Internazionale.
And, like something out of the most depressing movie ever made, that was it, the career nosedive had started.
Although he helped secure two La Liga crowns in his three seasons with Los Blancos, consistency was always lacking from his game. A dramatic deadline day transfer to Manchester City in 2008 saw Pele – a man only too happy to sing Robinho’s praises a few years earlier – remark that Santos “were ashamed to have produced such a player.” Money was clearly an incentive, and Robinho’s transfer was seen as a move made for everything but “footballing reasons.”
A real disappointment, the player known for his ball control, attacking instinct and dribbling even spent half the 2009-10 season on loan at his boyhood club Santos.
Although, Robinho put in some solid performances, Santos decided against signing him on a permanent basis.
In a transfer deadline coup, along with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the striker made a 2010 summer move to cash strapped AC Milan. Enjoying his most fruitful season in recent times, Robinho netted 14 times to help the Rossoneri secure their first league title in six years.
Unfortunately for the Brazilian, his San Siro resurrection was shortlived, and he quickly lost the trust of Massimiliano Allegri. When Ibrahimovic moved to Paris Saint Germain in 2012, Robinho had an opportunity to claim the forward position, make it all his own. After all, he was the most seasoned campaigner in the frontline. Yet again, a familiar issue raised its menacing head – inconsistency, and Mario Balotelli and Stephan El Sharaawy soon overshadowed Robinho.
From then on, rather desperately, AC Milan attempted to offload him. Finally, after prolonged discussions, the club managed to cut ties with Robinho. Ironically, the most depressing of narratives was compounded when the striker, yet again, returned to the club where he was once hailed as a young prodigy – FC Santos.
Ten years after leaving Brazil to pursue his European dream, Robinho now finds himself back at Santos, and this move surely marks the end of his European career, thus deeming the 31 year old rather irrelevant in the context of world football.
Moral of the story – The next time you hear about the ‘New Ronaldo, Zidane, Raul…. or Emile Heskey’….. Be very sceptical
