Malcom    19    Striker    Bordeaux    Brazil

Skinny

Having won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in 2015 for the first time in four years, Corinthians fans were allowed to enjoy the victory for all of about 24 hours. Within weeks a host of their important players were sold off and the core of the squad dismantled before they had a chance to really build a successful side.

Jadson, Renato Augusto, Ralf and Gil all headed to China before the end of January, with Vagner Love (Monaco) and Malcom departing for France. Unfortunately that is the business of football – especially with an ownership model as complicated as the one is Brazil.

For Malcom we worry that the move came too soon.

An exciting forward with good feet and the right mentality, the Brazilian can grow into becoming a constant stream of goals for his team – but right now, he needs to play as many minutes as possible.

The raw ingredients are good. He likes to cut in from the right hand side onto his left foot, but has enough confidence in his right foot to not be predictable. He seems to know that when play is building up on the opposite flank, his best position to be is somewhere in line with the far post and in as much space as possible.

It’s all positive, except that he might not be complete enough for the European game.

2016 has been…

After a pleasing and successful 2015 with the team he has been with since he was 11, Malcom was sold to Bordeaux at the end of the January transfer. Barring a few positive monents, 2016 has been all about settling into French football.

He made 12 league appearances to finish the season – though they only totaled 533 minutes – and seemed to set about getting used to European life, the different training methods, a new manager, new teammates and a new playing style. In truth, that stuff takes time. But as a very raw 19 year-old, it takes a little longer.

2016/17 kicked off with a bang thanks to three goals in his opening six Ligue 1 appearances of the season, though things have tailed off in the recent weeks since.

What’s next?

Consistency.

Malcom is only 19 and he is in need of regular first team football to figure out what sort of player he is on a regular basis. In 10-15 second bursts, he can look as good as the best player in the world. For now he is a YouTube footballer. There has been plenty of moments over the last 18 months to make the mouth water – little tricks, smart touches, roaring dribbles and decent goals. And yet there hasn’t been enough of a competent all-round game.

He’ll get there; and probably soon enough to make IBWM silly – but for now, we’ll simply tell you that he moved too soon.

C-    Could have been worse, but moved too soon