Wellington Silva interview: Where it went wrong for Arsenal's best-ever Brazilian triallist

Those who work regularly at the Arsenal training ground see many young prospects come and go but few stick in the memory quite like Wellington Silva

Even after his first few training sessions, word began to spread through the club about the boy from Rio with the big smile and the silken touch. "He was, quite simply, the best triallist we’d ever seen," says one insider from that time.

But Wellington never appeared for the Arsenal first team. Arsenal did sign him permanently but work permit problems meant him spending several seasons out on loan, drastically impeding his development. “I have good memories I will always carry with me,” Wellington reflects. “Unfortunately, things didn’t quite turn out as I hoped.”

Read my interview with Wellington Silva – written up with the excellent Arsenal correspondent James McNicholas – on The Athletic.

Who should play up front for Brazil?

"He's the new Ronaldo," purred Daniel Alves. "He is going to be one of the greats."

High praise indeed, but Gabriel Jesus deserved it. For the first two years of Tite's Brazil stewardship, he looked the striker Brazil had been seeking for a decade.

Cut to 2020 and the picture is slightly less clear. Jesus, after some ups and downs, remains an important player, as well as a symbol of the Tite era. Yet he now has significant competition for the central striking berth, much of it from the same small patch of north-west England.

For now, Roberto Firmino is the incumbent, having ousted Jesus after the World Cup and impressed as Brazil won the Copa America last summer. Then there is Richarlison, who played up front for his country before doing so at Everton, and who is viewed by Tite as the most direct, physical option.

There are other alternatives – there is a growing lobby for Flamengo's Gabriel Barbosa, for instance – but the battle to lead the line for the Selecao at the next World Cup looks likely to have a distinct Premier League flavour.

Read the rest of this piece on The Athletic.

If you have yet to sign up, you can get a 90-day free trial here.