Boro have signed Brazilian teenager Joao Morelli on a short-term deal until the end of the season, confirmed Under-21s coach Paul Jenkins.
The 18-year-old is the latest South American to arrive on Teesside from Juninho’s Ituano FC, and scored against Marske United in his debut last month.
Morelli, also known as Neto, made his league bow for the Under-21s in last night’s 3-1 win at West Brom after replacing the injured Harry Chapman on 33 minutes.
And after putting in an energetic shift up front, Jenkins admitted Boro will keep an eye on their latest Brazilian prodigy.
“Joao has come in from Juninho’s team Ituano. We’ve offered him a deal until the end of the season, so it’s about bedding him in as we go along,” Jenkins said.
“He hasn’t played a lot of games recently so we were probably forced to have him on the pitch with Harry’s injury.
“But I thought he came out with a lot of credit, as far as his work rate goes.
“We still need to work on his fitness levels and a bit of understanding how we play the game, but I think everybody showed a good work ethic.”
Boro and Ituano have been developing an informal link-up over the last few years.
A number of Brazilian prospects have trained with the Teessiders in recent times, including Doriva’s son, Diego Sinhorini Ghidoni.
Boro also signed two Ituano players, Rafael Pereira and Marcos Rhoden, in February 2013. Their deals were extended ahead of the 2013/14 season but they left before the end of the season after failing to establish themselves.
And speaking about the club’s trans-Atlantic link back in November, Boro boss Aitor Karanka hopes the relationship could eventually see a new Brazilian star arrive in Teesside.
“It is an important relationship and, if one day, we can bring in another player like Juninho, I will be very happy,” Karanka said.
Juninho and Karanka were rivals on the pitch and friends off it when they played in Madrid in the late 1990s.
The Little Fella starred for Atletico and the future Boro boss was a Real defender.
They got to know each other because Juninho often visited his compatriot Roberto Carlos, who was a neighbour and team-mate of Karanka’s.
“I can imagine what Juninho means to the people here,” he said. “I know him and I played against him on a lot of occasions,” Karanka added.
“I have a very good relationship with him because he lived in Roberto Carlos’ neighbourhood and we went out a few times together in Madrid.
“My debut was against him. It was the first game of the season at the Bernabeu and we drew 1-1. Seedorf scored an amazing goal, and I have very good memories of the game.”
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