Carlo Ancelotti told to pick uncapped Premier League star as Brazil’s striker for World Cup

Carlo Ancelotti has been told he should consider Igor Thiago as his striker for the World Cup, and that the forward should be dreaming of it.

That is according to his manager, Keith Andrews, who had nothing but praise for his big Brazilian striker.

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The start of Thiago’s Brentford career couldn’t have been worse as he suffered a meniscus injury on debut in pre-season.

That kept him out until November 2024, when he returned, but only for four matches before suffering a knee problem.

That meant by the end of his first season in England, he’d managed just eight top-flight appearances without scoring a single goal.

Bryan Mbeumo then joined Manchester United and Yoane Wissa forced a move to Newcastle United, leaving a lot of pressure on Thiago.

But his response under Andrews has been incredible, scoring 17 goals this year, leaving him second in the race for the Golden Boot.

And with Brazil struggling for a striker, Andrews has told Thiago to dream of representing his country.

In an exclusive talkSPORT interview with Natalie Sawyer, the former Republic of Ireland international was asked if Thiago should think about Brazil, to which he simply replied: “Yes.”

Expanding on that further, Sawyer asked Andrews if Ancelotti should have him leading the line.

“That’s a tricky one because I have been in international football as an assistant manager, so I never really liked reading a headline with a club manager saying, ‘he should be the number nine’,” he said.

“So, I am not sure about saying anything to Carlo Ancelotti, who I have ridiculous respect for.

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“But I can only speak about Thiago, and he has been immense. He has been so good in so many different ways.

“It’s not just the goals, it is his overall game and the selfless way he plays the game without the ball and how he affects the game even when he doesn’t score.

“Bournemouth at home is a really good example of that – I thought he was unbelievable.

“[Kevin] Schade got a hat-trick, but Thiago was just unreal. He was the platform for us.

“So, should he dream? Yeah, he should, and we’ve had numerous conversations about it, and it is what he is striving for, and that is exactly what he should be striving for.”

You can listen to the full interview between Sawyer and Andrews on Kick Off from 7pm, and it will be uploaded onto our YouTube too.

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Unlikely call-up

Unfortunately, despite the fact that he is the top-scoring Brazilian in a single Premier League season.

The feeling in South America is that he might not get a call-up simply because of big-club bias.

This is something that hindered Matheus Cunha while he was at Wolves.

But now he is at Manchester United and Joao Pedro is at Chelsea, it feels as if he’ll be behind those in the pecking order.

Certainly, that is the view of South American football expert Tim Vickery.

Speaking on Hawksbee and Jacobs in January, he said: “It is scaling Everest the hard way, but he’s putting himself in the conversation.

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“The most amount of goals ever scored by a Brazilian in the Premier League. And he’s still got nearly half the season left to bang in some more.

“He’s got obviously Carlo Ancelotti as the coach, who is in tune with what’s happening in the Premier League.

“And one of Ancelotti’s assistants, Paul Clement, who’s even more attuned to what’s happening in the Premier League.

“There is a battle royale going on for that no.9 jersey, but he’s put himself in the conversation.

“When that squad is announced, there will be a nervous man; the big bearded man from Brentford will be nervous there in West London, because he’s got a chance.

“It is very difficult to get in that way, because I mean, today, for example, the Brazilian press is full of stories about who is he?

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“Who is this fella? They don’t know him. They don’t know him, and that makes it tough to get in.

“And they really don’t like, there is resistance to the idea of players being called up from what they see as minor clubs in the Premier League.

“Now they’ve thrown that one at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the past. If you’re going to throw that at Wolves, that is certainly going to be thrown at Brentford.

“So it’s not always an easy sell to get a player like that, who’s not really known to the Brazilian football community, into the national team, but by his own terrific performance, he’s put himself in the conversation.”

Brentford vs Arsenal: talkSPORT coverage

This Premier League clash is set to take place on Thursday, February 12.

Kick-off at the Gtech Community Stadium is scheduled for 8:15pm.

talkSPORT has live and exclusive coverage of the clash, with Natalie Sawyer serving as your presenter.

Commentary is being provided by Sam Matterface and England icon Stuart Pearce.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream. Listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

talkSPORT.com will also be across the action with our dedicated live blog.