The 2023/24 Premier League will define its champion next Sunday in what will be the closing of an epic season in which Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, and the Brazilian protagonists of each team will try to win the league title.
In Manchester City’s squad is Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson Moraes, while at Arsenal, Gabriel Magalhães, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus complete the roster of Brazilians who could be Premier League champions this Sunday.
However, in the squads of these two teams, there are two players born in the South American country who do not represent the Seleção, but who, technically, are two more Brazilians who could be Premier League champions.
READ MORE
++ Reliving Ronaldo’s final CONMEBOL Copa América in 1999
++ Brazil will play a friendly against the United States before the Copa América
++ Copa América 2024: Brazil would only clash against Argentina in a hypothetical final
Brazilians by birth, Matheus Nunes and Jorginho, could win the Premier League for the first time
The Portuguese midfielder of Manchester City, Matheus Nunes, holds dual Brazilian and Portuguese nationality, as he was born in the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1998.
Very young, at the tender age of 12, Nunes made the leap to the old continent and after being trained in this country in teams like Ericeirense, Estoril Praia and Sporting de Lisboa, he opted to become Portuguese in 2021.
This season, Matheus Nunes joined Manchester City for €62 million from Wolves, and has played a total of 19 matches in the Premier League with Pep’s team.
On the other side of the ring is the Italian-Brazilian Jorginho, a midfielder who has represented Arsenal since the beginning of 2023, the year in which he arrived from Chelsea.
Jorge Luiz Frello Filho, better known as Jorginho, was born in Imbituba, Santa Catarina, Brazil, in 1991 and has represented the Italian national team since 2016, a team with which he won the 2021 European Championship.
Jorginho, who moved to Italy at the age of 15, was trained in football at Hellas Verona and obtained Italian nationality thanks to his paternal great-grandfather, who was from Veneto, Italy.
Since his arrival at Arsenal, Jorginho has had an irregular spell at the club, but this season he has played a total of 24 Premier League matches and is set to win his first title with the Gunners.
Despite having played for a successful club like Chelsea, Jorginho never won the Premier League with the London club. Needless to say, Matheus Nunes, who until recently played for the humble Wolverhampton Wanderers, also does not know what it’s like to win the league title.
This could change next Sunday, when these two players, Brazilians by birth, could play key roles in the fight for the league title on the final day of the Premier League.
Remembering Zagallo
Sambafoot Series launched a new documentary about the football legend Zagallo. Known as ‘Velho Lobo‘ and as superstitious as it gets, Zagallo helped shape what Brazilian football is nowadays — as a player and as a coach.
Binge the episodes available on Sambafoot’s Youtube channel. Stay tuned for upcoming releases as we keep telling this legend’s life story.
