Cruzeiro’s youngster scores for the first time after a R$200 million transfer < In Attack

The bad phase has come to an end. Created by Cruzeiro, Thiago spent almost three months without finding the net. However, the center forward from Club Brugge, a team from Belgium, scored against Genk on Wednesday (24/4) and scored his first goal since the announcement of the transfer worth 37 million euros – almost R$ 200 million at the exchange rate. time – for Brentford, from England.

In a game in the fifth round of the Belgian Championship, played at the Jan Breydel Stadium, home of Brugge, Thiago was responsible for the third goal in the 4-0 victory over Genk. With that ball in the net, he reached his 17th goal in the tournament, behind only Kévin Denkey (25), and Anders Dreyer and El Amine Amoura (18).

The 26th goal in all competitions also further isolates Thiago as the Brazilian player with the most goals in European football in the 2023/24 season – he has four more than Evanilson, from Porto. However, these numbers remained unchanged for almost three months.

Igor Thiago, as he is known in Europe, last scored on January 30th. After that, there were 11 games and 85 days of “drought” until the bad phase ended in the last duel. Amidst the bad moment, the center forward was traded to Brentford and had still not scored a goal for Brugge after the negotiation.

This early agreement occurred precisely because of Thiago’s previous performance. The Cruzeiro academy product scored 19 goals in 12 games between November 30, 2023 and January 30, 2024 and attracted the interest of European clubs, being signed by the West London representative. The center forward will play in the Premier League from next season.

Club Brugge in the Belgian Championship

In the normal season, Brugge finished the Belgian League in fourth place, with 51 points in 30 rounds, qualifying for the playoffs together with Union (70), Anderlecht (63), Antwerp (52), Cercle Brugge (47) and Racing Genk (47).

The strange regulation determines that the six qualified teams continue the fight for the title with half the points obtained in the previous phase, facing each other in turn and return in ten additional rounds. Whoever scores the most points will be champion.

Club Brugge, therefore, entered the playoffs with 26 points (half of 51 plus 0.5 points) and reached the mark of 39 with four wins and a draw in the finals. The next clash is again against Genk, this time as a visitor. It will be played on Sunday (28/4), at 8:30 am.

Sixteen teams have already lifted the Belgian Championship trophy. Anderlecht, the biggest winner, scored 34, while Club Brugge, second placed, celebrated 18. Completing the top-5 are Union St. Gilloise (11), Standard Liège (10) and FCO Beerschot Wilrijk (7).

Thiago’s trajectory

Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues arrived at Cruzeiro in 2019, at the age of 17, coming from Verê Futebol Clube, in Paraná. In 2020, the young man was part of an inevitable process of reformulation as a result of Raposa’s relegation to Series B of the Brazilian Championship. At the time, the squad included several under-20 boys amidst the departure of experienced players.

In just over two years, Thiago played 64 games for Cruzeiro, scored 10 goals and provided three assists. The center forward’s most memorable moves were the header against Atlético, in the 2020 Mineiro Championship (2-1 defeat), and the goal in the 1-0 victory over Londrina, in the 2021 Series B, an important result for eliminate the risk of falling to Series C.

At the beginning of 2022, Cruzeiro sold Thiago to Ludogorets, from Bulgaria, for 700 thousand dollars – R$3.6 million at the price two years ago. With his good performance in the team – 21 goals in 55 matches -, the striker headed to Club Brugge, in June 2023, for 7 million euros (R$ 37 million).