The landscape in which Shakhtar Donetsk, displaced from their home city since 2014, operate has quite literally changed but one symbol of their power in the early years of this century remains. The club is still a haven for talented Brazilian players and Luis Castro, their Portuguese coach, will have 10 to select from when they face Manchester City — as well as as the Santos-born striker Júnior Moraes, who received Ukrainian citizenship in March, and the former São Paulo player Marlos, who made his Ukraine debut in October 2017.
Brandão, signed from modest Iraty in 2002, blazed the trail and 34 – most recently the Brazil Under-20 captain Vitão – have followed him, with often spectacular results. Signings Brazilians became a specific strategy when the Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu, keen to create a more technical team and aided by the financial backing of the billionaire president Rinat Akhmetov, arrived in 2004. If the prospect of playing in Ukraine was not always an immediately easy sell, the money on offer helped and so did the fact that new arrivals would be playing alongside a cluster of their countrymen. European football meant exposure elsewhere and the prospect that, if they succeeded at Shakhtar, opportunities with bigger names might open up.
Shakhtar’s plan, which has just about survived Lucescu’s departure in 2016 and the turbulent political climate, has paid off handsomely for all parties. They would not have achieved Akhmetov’s dream of a European title had it not been for the five Brazilians in their Uefa Cup-winning side of 2009 – including Luiz Adriano and Jádson, the scorers of their goals in the final against Werder Bremen.
Also in the side that day was Fernandinho, who spent eight years at the club and could start against them at centre-back on Wednesday. Ahead of him, on the left flank, was Willian. Players such as Douglas Costa, Bernard and Fred have also moved on to bigger leagues, albeit with wildly differing results, while the channel with Manchester City was established when they sold Elano for £8m in 2007. The present crop have their work cut out to emulate those players’ successes but nights like this evening are the kind that can change a career trajectory.
The cream of the present-day crop
Tetê
The 19-year-old winger is well placed to be Shakhtar’s next big thing. He had not played a game for Grêmio when he arrived for £13.5m in February after two tricky months of negotiations but his impact was almost instant. In his fifth appearance he scored Shakhtar’s first two goals in the Ukrainian cup final against Inhulets, both poached from close in, and a well-taken finish against Dynamo Kyiv seven days later – securing a draw that effectively sealed the title – confirmed his appetite for the big occasion. This season he has scored twice and there is no doubt that, when cutting inside on to his left foot, a player known in Brazil as “the hurricane” poses a major threat from the right flank. “We believe he’s our future, that Tetê will grow into a big star,” said the Shakhtar CEO, Sergei Palkin, who sees him as part of a “new Shakhtar” that could contain the spine of Brazil’s next team and accepts he may require two years to blossom. A €150m release clause is in place to deter anyone who fancies nurturing Tetê before then.
Taison
Taison looked sure to be Shakhtar’s latest high-profile Brazilian export when, late in the summer transfer window, the club began talks with Milan. But the deal fell through, apparently on Shakhtar’s refusal to sell or loan him for anything below his €30m release clause, and the 31-year-old’s frustration showed when he posted “Congratulations on ending my dream” on Instagram. There are suggestions Milan may return in the winter but Taison appears to have put his disappointment to one side, scoring a clinical goal against Zorya Luhansk on Saturday. He moved to Ukraine almost a decade ago, joining the now-defunct Metalist Kharkiv and showing an appetite for the spectacular during their ill-fated rise. His past six years have been spent with Shakhtar and Manchester United are among those to have been punished by his eye for goal. Eight Brazil caps, and a place in their World Cup squad, were just reward for his brilliance but the chance to play in one of the world’s biggest leagues may have slipped away.
Marcos António
He may not capture the attention as quickly as Tetê but the diminutive midfielder, who joined from Portuguese second-tier side Estoril Praia for £3m a few weeks before his compatriot’s arrival, is already attracting glances elsewhere. Like Tetê, Marcos Antonio is 19 and a Brazil Under-20 international; he has made similar inroads into the first team, showing an impressive tendency to open up the play from deep. His first goal for the club, against Mariupol last month, came after a lung-busting run beyond the backline to get on the end of a move he had begun. The sense is that he has more potential than his 22-year-old midfield colleague Maycon, who is injured. Some onlookers have compared him to Fred – presumably the version that shone at Shakhtar – but Marcos António cites Casemiro and Philippe Coutinho as inspirations. Emulating them both might sound a tall order but any player who can become a blend of the two will have the world at his feet.
Shakhtar’s nine other Brazilian imports
Dentinho (30, forward), Alan Patrick (28, midfielder), Maycon (22, midfielder), Marquinhos Cipriano (20, forward), Ismaily (29, left-back), Vitão (19, centre-back), Dodo (20, right-back), Marlos (Ukr/Braz, 31, forward), Júnior Moraes (Ukr/Braz, 32, forward)
