Football: Lucas Beraldo signs for PSG until 2028

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: ABNER DOURADO / AGIF / AGIF VIA AFP 17:10 p.m., January 01, 2024

Brazilian centre-back Lucas Beraldo signed with Paris Saint-Germain until 2028 on Monday, the club said in a statement. The 20-year-old Brazilian has signed a five-year contract with Paris from Sao Paulo FC, which he joined in 2020 and with whom he won "the Copa do Brasil" in 2023. He made his professional debut in May 2022 against Ayacucho FC (1-0) in the Copa Sudamericana. Since then, the son of a former Brazilian player has become a "major" player in the Brazilian league, according to PSG.

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Paris Saint-Germain are delighted to welcome Lucas Beraldo.
The 20-year-old Brazilian defender, who will wear the number 35, has signed a five-year deal with the club.

❤️ #WelcomeBeraldo

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) January 1, 2024

In June 2022, at the age of 18, he made his first appearance for Brazil's U20 team against Ecuador (4-1). "I am very happy to join a club as ambitious as Paris Saint-Germain. It's an important step in my career, which will help me progress. I can't wait to get to know my new teammates and take my first steps in this shirt," said the player -- who will wear the number 35 shirt -- in a statement sent by the club, which was waiting for the opening of the transfer window to announce it.

A player who is part of the "new transformation" of the club

Considered a reserved person, shunning social media and leading a discreet life with his girlfriend, the left-footed player is nicknamed the "Joker" ("Coringa"): he seems to laugh inexplicably a few minutes before matches, which he explains as part of his mental preparation, according to statements collected by Brazilian media.

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On Friday, a source close to the club told AFP that this player "fits perfectly into the new transformation of the club": young, not "bling-bling", important for the collective and financially viable with long contracts so that the costs are amortized, and low salaries with revaluation as they go along. On Sunday, another young Brazilian, Gabriel Moscardo, who is also expected to join PSG, announced that he will have to undergo "in the coming days" an "operation on his foot" which will keep him away from the pitch "for the next three months".

"After recent tests, it seems necessary to have this preventive operation that should keep me off the pitch for the next three months," the Corinthians player, who had undergone medical examinations at the PSG Campus on Friday like Lucas Beraldo, said on Instagram. The club did not say whether this would jeopardize his transfer.