West Ham defender Pablo Zabaleta recommended that Everton star Richarlison received a call-up to the Brazil squad, according to national assistant coach Sylvinho, Goal report.
Richarlison made the switch from Watford to Everton in the summer for a reported £40 million fee, and has been a standout performer for Marco Silva’s side this season.
The forward has found the back of the net on four occasions during the current campaign, and his impressive individual performances earnt him a maiden call-up for the national team in September.
The 21-year-old made his first appearance for Brazil in a 5-0 friendly win over El Salvador last month, finding the back of the net twice.
Since then, Richarlison has continued his good form for the Toffees, which earnt him a second call-up by Brazil, making substitute appearances against Saudi Arabia and Argentina.
However, it has recently been revealed that the Everton star first caught the attention of Brazil boss Tite through Argentine Zabaleta.
The full-back, who struggled to cope against the forward in West Ham’s fixture with Watford back in February, called up Sylvinho following the game praising the youngster.
Talking at a news conference, national assistant Sylvinho, who played with Zabaleta previously, said:
I have good friends on the continent, these guys who played with me help me.
Zabaleta played against Watford and called me. He asked if we knew we had a spectacular player at Watford.
He said he was not just good, he was “very good”.
We’ve been monitoring him and he’s part of our plans, he can play at nine or on the sides.
