SportsNews

7 brilliant players who are simply too good to be playing in Brazil

Published

12 months ago

December 29, 2024

7 brilliant players who are simply too good to be playing in Brazil

Former Liverpool, Barcelona and Tottenham stars are among the seven brilliant players we believe are simply too good to be playing in Brazil.

The Brazilian Serie A is always plenty of fun to keep up with. The league is packed with rising ballers and older stars of years gone by who are playing out the final years of their careers.

We’ve taken a closer look at the league and have found seven players who we can’t believe are currently playing in Brazil.

Philippe Coutinho

There was a time when Coutinho was one of the most feared creative forces in the Premier League. That five-year stint at Liverpool was scary good, and ultimately resulted in Barcelona splashing an initial £105million to sign him in 2018.

We all know that panned out. We don’t need to recount such a monumental failure.

Coutinho is now turning out for boyhood side Vasco da Gama on loan from Aston Villa and still produces moments to take the breath away.

Felipe Anderson

After two seasons at West Ham, a sneaky little loan at Porto, and a combined eight years at Lazio, Felipe Anderson has finally returned to the Brasileirao.

He was absolutely mustard in that first season at West Ham. Untouchable, at times. A dip in form toward the end of his second season resulted in that loan to Porto, and that didn’t go too smoothly either.

The Brazilian picked himself back up and helped Lazio to a second-place Serie A finish in 2022-23.

Anderson signed for Palmeiras this summer and has produced snippets of jaw-dropping class back in his home country.

Martin Braithwaite

Braithwaite is one of the most interesting men in football. The ex-Middlesbrough and Barcelona forward, gazillionaire, potential future owner of Espanyol—out of pure spite, and Denmark international signed for Gremio in the summer of 2024.

Scored twice on his league debut as well.

Braithwaite’s new team aren’t pulling up many trees in the Brazilian league, but he’s scored eight goals and provided two assists in 18 appearances and could probably still be playing in Europe.

TRY A QUIZ: Can you name every member of Brazil’s 2002 World Cup Squad?

Gerson

Gerson returned to Brazil in December last year, following stints in Europe with Roma and Marseille.

The 27-year-old has a good eye for goal and has chipped in with plenty of goal contributions from midfield since his return to Flamengo. He could probably do a job in a more high-profile league.

Matheus Pereira

The streets won’t forget Pereira and his magical stint with West Brom. After leaving the Baggies, the Brazilian joined Saudi outfit Al-Hilal, although it didn’t take long until he was eyeing up the exit door.

Seemingly unhappy with his situation in Saudi Arabia, the 28-year-old has spent the last couple of seasons out on loan.

He’s now back in Brazil with Cruzeiro, having spent time on loan with the club last year. We sure would love to see him back in England one day.

QUIZ: Can you name every player from Brazil to score 5+ Premier League goals?

Giorgian de Arrascaeta

De Arrascaeta continues to produce the goods for Flamengo and is arguably the best player playing outside of Europe.

Since moving to the club in 2019, the Uruguayan attacking midfielder has chipped in with 146 goal contributions in 290 matches which is some return. He’s still only 30 too.

Lucas Moura

After spending over a decade in Europe with PSG and Tottenham, Moura made an emotional return to Sao Paulo in 2023.

Since arriving back in Brazil, the 32-year-old has managed to get his hands on a couple of trophies as Sao Paulo won the Copa do Brasil and Supercopa do Brasil in quick succession.

SportsNews

EPL: Full list of players leaving for 2025 AFCON

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

At least 25 players in the Premier League are set to travel for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The tournament is scheduled to take place from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026.

Nigeria, Ivory Coast, DR Congo lead the way in terms of players based in the English topflight, with four selected from each club for the AFCON.

FIFA has directed clubs to release the eligible players from Monday, December 15.

Full list of players confirmed

Sunderland (5):
Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco), Reinildo (Mozambique), Bertrand Traoré (Burkina Faso), Arthur Masuaku (DR Congo), Noah Sadiki (DR Congo).

Manchester United (3):
Bryan Mbeumo (Cameroon), Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast), Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco).

Fulham (3):
Alex Iwobi (Nigeria), Calvin Bassey (Nigeria), Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria).

Burnley (3):
Axel Tuanzebe (DR Congo), Lyle Foster (South Africa), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia).

Nottingham Forest (2):
Ibrahim Sangaré (Ivory Coast), Willy Boly (Ivory Coast).

Brentford (2):
Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria).

Manchester City (1):
Omar Marmoush (Egypt),

West Ham United (1):
Aaron Wan-Bissaka (DR Congo)

Wolves (2):
Tawanda Chirewa (Zimbabwe), Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast).

Brighton & Hove Albion (1):
Carlos Baleba (Cameroon).

Crystal Palace (2):
Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal), Cheick Doucouré (Mali)

Liverpool (1):
Mohammed Salah (Egypt)

SportsNews

NNL bars fans from Ranchers Bees vs Adamawa United

Published

1 day ago

December 13, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The Nigeria National League, NNL, has announced that matchday six fixture between Ranchers Bees and Adamawa United will be played behind closed doors.

The announcement was made in a statement by the league body.

Only the State Football Association representatives, staff of both teams, kit managers and medical personnel will be allowed into the stadium.

Others are the match officials, security personnel and camera men.

The reason for the decision to play the game without club supporters wasn’t stated by the league body.

The encounter will take place at the Bako Kontagora Stadium in Minna on Saturday (today).

SportsNews

Nigeria vs Egypt Friendly Gets New Date

Published

7 days ago

December 8, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Nigeria’s preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations have taken a fresh hit, with Egypt confirming that the highly anticipated friendly between both nations has been shifted from 14 to 16 December.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced the adjustment late Friday, noting that FIFA’s updated international release directive, which allows clubs keep African players until 15 December, made the original date unworkable.

EFA Vice President Khaled El-Darandaly explained that the new rule left both Egypt and Nigeria without full squads for the initial date.

Key Pharaohs players, including Mohamed Salah and Omar Marmoush, are now expected to arrive only after the new release window.

Egypt had already named its 28-man provisional squad and opened camp in Cairo, with head coach Hossam Hassan accelerating final preparations for a Group B campaign that includes South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe.

Nigeria’s disruption is more extensive. The Super Eagles were originally scheduled to open camp on 10 December and progress through a streamlined friendly schedule before departing for Morocco. That entire framework has now been dismantled.

Under the revised timeline, camp will open on 14 December, leaving Eric Chelle with barely a week to prepare before AFCON kicks off.

The venue for the friendly is also now uncertain, with Cairo no longer feasible and both federations considering shifting the match to Morocco.

Nigeria’s build-up has been further destabilised by injuries to Ola Aina, Taiwo Awoniyi, Benjamin Fredrick and Felix Agu.

The shock retirement of captain William Troost-Ekong, winner of the 2023 AFCON Player of the Tournament award, creates an additional leadership vacuum in defence.

Chelle, who released a 55-man provisional list, must now trim his squad to 28 within a compressed window. Nigeria will compete in Group C alongside Tunisia, Uganda and Tanzania as they chase a fourth continental title.