Liverpool have completed the signing of promising Brazilian goalkeeper Marcelo Pitaluga.
The 17-year old joins from Brazilian Serie A side, Fluminense where he played alongside Alisson's brother, Muriel.
Pitaluga was part of the Brazil squad that won the 2019 U17 World Cup on home soil.
It was at that U17 World Cup where the 6'2" keeper first caught the attention of Liverpool goalkeeping coach, John Achterberg.
"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."
The club were helped in their tracking of Pitaluga with midfielder Allan spending time on loan at Fluminense, meaning they could keep tabs on two players at once.
Achterberg explained the role Alisson's brother Muriel played in the deal, "I asked Ali to speak to his brother to see how it goes and how he is doing. Ali spoke to his brother and Ali went training there.
"We saw a little bit from the training and the games he was playing for the reserves in Brazil.
“He was already 16 playing in the reserve team there so you also think, they trust him to play already in the reserves at 16."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has something of a goalkeeping crisis on his hands at the moment.
Alisson is out injured - potentially until late November - and his deputy, Adrian, conceded 7 goals away to Aston Villa.
Despite this, Pitaluga won't be knocking the first-team boss' door down for a game any time soon.
"Now he is here, we have to improve [him]," Achterberg said, "He is still young, there is no pressure because there is still a long road and we don’t want to create any pressure for him because there is still work to do.
“First of all, you need to let him settle down, find his way. He needs to learn the speed, the kind of game in England is different than in Brazil, it’s a lot faster and there’s more aggression in it. All that stuff you have to calculate as well to work on a little bit.”
