Liverpool has confirmed the signing of goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga from Fluminense.
The Reds agreed a £1m deal for the 17-year-old last month, having been in talks since the end of August, while he was spotted training at Melwood earlier this week.
A member of the Brazil side that won the Under-17s World Cup last November, the shot-stopper was named on the bench for two Fluminense fixtures in Serie A last season where he served as understudy to Muriel Becker, older brother of Allison Becker.
Pitaluga will train at Melwood with the first-team group under the guidance of coach John Achterberg, alongside Alisson, when he returns from injury, Adrian and Caoimhin Kelleher, while playing for the club’s academy teams.
“I saw him for the first time in the World Cup squad. You’re checking all the goalies and looking at the ages,” Achterberg told the club when elaborating at the Reds’ decision to move for Pitaluga.
“You see that he was in the World Cup squad one year younger than the rest of the squad, then you think that’s worth a look because normally you have two goalkeepers of the same age, but if you have someone who is a year younger you think he may have some good attributes.
