Watford Opinion: Hornets might have got their hands on the next Richarlison by striking a deal for Joao Pedro

According to The Sun, Watford are braced to sign Brazilian wonderkid Joao Pedro from Fluminense, with reports claiming that the 17-year-old has agreed to complete a move to Vicarage Road in January 2020 for an initial fee of just £2 million.

Joao Pedro was little-known in the youth academy at Fluminense just a few weeks back but the 17-year-old has enjoyed an incredible rise in his homeland in a matter of just a couple of weeks.

If the Brazilian does complete his move to Watford in January next season, then it would be the Hornets’ second swoop on Fluminense in recent times following the capture of Richarlison a couple of years back.

Pedro only made his senior professional debut for Fluminense last month but the teenager has caught the Brazilian top-flight by storm in his very first season at the senior level. It all began with a 6-minute cameo from the bench in a Brazilian Cup game against Cruzeiro, where he scored the 94th-minute equaliser for his team.

Just a couple of days after his heroics in the domestic cup competition, the 17-year-old followed it up with a brace from the bench against the same opposition and propelled his team to a 4-1 victory, bagging the man-of-the-match honour in the process.

However, if there is anything that embodies Pedro’s fine start to his professional career, it has to be his scintillating hat-trick against Colombian giants Atletico Nacional in the Copa Sudamericana, the Europa League equivalent of South America.

Pedro, who was handed his first ever start for Fluminense at the senior level, completed his hat-trick and bagged an assist in the first half itself, and in doing so, became the first player born in the twenty-first century to score a hat-trick in a South American club competition.

Pedro reminded the fans that his hat-trick wasn’t a mere flash in the pan, as the 17-year-old found the net once again in Fluminense’s 3-2 league defeat away at Bahia last Sunday. The youngster is yet to represent Brazil at any youth level but he has made the best possible start to his professional career, with his metaphoric rise up pyramid making him a firm fan favourite in his homeland.

It is not difficult to understand why Joao Pedro is the name on the lips of every Fluminense fan in Brazil and those strong signs of excellence in the rudimentary stages of his career has sparked belief that the 17-year-old could follow Richarlison’s footsteps and emulate his success in the Premier League in the years to come.

Essentially a centre-forward by trade, Pedro is also capable of playing out wide on the left as an inverted winger, owing to his right-footed nature. He is almost close to 6ft and one would expect him to gain a few more inches in the next couple of years or so. A fast, agile and athletic striker blessed with excellent technical abilities on the ball, Pedro has shown the instincts of a natural finisher in front of goal from a very young age, an attribute which makes him stand head and shoulders above most of the players in the same mould.

Adept at using his physicality to win headers inside the box, the 17-year-old boasts of a good turn of pace as well, which combined with his ability to find the net with both feet, make him a dangerous presence in and around the penalty area.

To put things into perspective, Joao Pedro looks like a real talent at this point of his career, and given that the Brazilian clubs have an excellent track record of shipping world-class talents to Europe, it has to be said that Watford already have a gem on their hands. Watford bagged a massive profit when they sold Richarlison to Everton last summer and Pedro has the raw talent and the potential to emulate his compatriot’s success.

Pedro, though still untested at the highest level, remains a player with a lot of promise and the Hornets should look at him as a good long-term investment.

The fact that they have already agreed on terms with the player is clear evidence of their solid scouting network. They have unearthed talents like Dodi Lukebakio and Cucho Hernandez in recent years, although it remains to be seen how they use those players next season after successful loan spells.

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All in all, it is a no-brainer that Watford have carried out a shrewd piece of business by striking a deal for the 17-year-old prodigy.