Danny Alves, Cavo, Carlos Alberto – few people can do better than Brazil when it comes to developing top right-backs. However, the talent pool in this area has dried up in recent years, so much so that although Alves is less than a month away from his 39th birthday, Alves is expected to be the starting player for the Brazilian national team's 2022 World Cup. It's unclear who will be his replacement when the Barcelona star finally hangs up his boots, but hope for the future may not emerge until a few years from now, as people wait for the next top Brazilian right-back to put on that famous yellow shirt.
One of the most recently mentioned names is Vinicius Tobias, who has been in the spotlight for many years in his home country and whose performances in brazil's national youth team are evident in world football. The 18-year-old completed his transfer to Real Madrid on April 1 and is known to a wide range of Brazilian fans after helping Brazil's Under-15 juniors win the South American championship in 2019, with Tobias scoring in his final win over Argentina. He was later likened to Alexander-Arnold, in part because, like the Liverpool star, he started out as a midfielder and was later transferred to the wing, but he was still able to maintain his attacking prowess.
Real Madrid desperately need such a player, Carvajal has been injured several times this season, especially in the Champions League, and the full-fledged Nacho and Lucas Vazquez are not born right-backs, although they both come off the bench in Carvajal's absence. The Bernabeu has high hopes for the 16-year-old Alejandro Jimenez, who is already the main player of Real Madrid's Under-19 team, but Bayern Munich has a tiger's eye on the Spanish youth international, and Tobias has the opportunity to determine a starting position at the Bernabeu in the coming years.
However, his way to the Spanish capital was not easy. At the age of 12, Tobias was forced to leave his mother's home in São Paulo and move more than 1,100 kilometers south along Brazil's east coast to Porto Alegre, where he was admitted to the International Youth College of Brazil. He caught the eye of club scouts because of his ability to play against opponents, advancing from midfield to the penalty area, as well as his insight into the game and his tendency to always find teammates with passes. "I signed as a striker, but by 2017 I was playing as a midfielder," Tobias told the media as he relayed his story of turning right-back, "our full-back Gustavo Bagatini was injured and we had no substitutes. I asked coach Lucas Machetti for an opportunity to play there. It's not hard, but I still have a lot to learn. ”
Tobias learned quickly, and he never changed back to his place. He helped the club win the Brazil U20 Championship in 2021, adding to his time in Brazil internationally. "He's a typical Brazilian player, a very skilled athlete," Joao Miguel, who coached Tobias to win the championship, told the media, "The relationship between the ball and him is good, his ability to solve the problems of the game is also very high, and his understanding of the tactical problems of the game is also very good." His physical fitness is also very good, and his mental strength is also very strong. He's a player who loves one-on-one and loves the challenges of playing. So, with a great sense of happiness, he has embarked on the road abroad, and with all these skills, he will shine there. ”
These traits have led Tobias to attract the interest of some of Europe's top clubs, with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Juventus and Atletico Madrid all watching the teenager's progress. However, the Donetsk miners won the race for Tobias, who announced in July 2021 that they had reached a deal of 6 million euros to bring Tobias to Ukraine, which will arrive in six months. He had not yet played a first-team match for the club as a teenager when he left Brazil International, but he immediately integrated into miners' first-team team, with them in a mid-season training camp in Turkey, playing in six friendly matches.
However, the matches are likely to be his only chance to make a appearance for the club, and Tobias is one of the Brazilian players based in Ukraine who sought safe passage out of his club via social media after the international situation changed. A few days later, FIFA announced that the Ukrainian club's players would be allowed to leave to further continue their career before the young man crossed the Ukrainian border with his compatriots. Real Madrid thus rekindled their interest in Tobias and moved quickly to battle the young Brazilian defender to sign him on initial loan until the end of the 2022-23 season, including a €17 million buyout clause.
Although Tobias has been through a lot since coming to Europe, he has settled down in Spain and recently made his third division of Spanish football for Real Madrid Castile. He has also trained in the first team, although he is not eligible to play for the first team this season as there are already three non-EU players – Vinicius, Rodrigo and Militão – who regularly start in Ancelotti's side. However, the time will come for Tobias to set foot on the La Liga stage, even if he has to wait for the opportunity. It's something he's getting used to, but it's believed that once he's exposed to top football, he's unlikely to leave anytime soon. Brazil's long history of training the world's top right-backs seems to be going on.