‘Who is this?’ – Carlo Ancelotti faces resistance to call up Premier League record breaker

Igor Thiago is facing resistance back in Brazil despite his Premier League heroics – because he’s breaking records at Brentford.

That is according to South American football expert Tim Vickery, who admitted Carlo Ancelotti is in a battle royale to find his new striker.

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The former Real Madrid boss will oversee just one more Seleção camp in March before he finalises his squad for the World Cup this summer.

On form, Thiago should be a shoo-in, having broken the record for most Premier League goals scored by a Brazilian in a single season.

The 24-year-old was on target twice for Brentford during their 3-0 win against Sunderland to reach 16 goals in the league this term, 17 total.

Thiago arrived in west London in the summer of 2024 as the replacement for Ivan Toney in a £30 million deal from Club Brugge.

A meniscus injury sustained in his first pre-season game saw his competitive Brentford debut delayed until November.

A knee infection then sidelined him again, and his first campaign in England ended without a goal in eight appearances.

However, Thiago has flourished in his season as Brentford’s first-choice striker following Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa‘s departures.

A goal on the opening day of the season laid the foundation for a sparkling run of 16 goals in just 20 Premier League starts for the Bees.

But Vickery admitted that a Brazil call-up isn’t a formality due to big club bias, which once proved an issue for Matheus Cunha at Wolves.

Asked what Thiago’s chances are with Ancelotti, he told talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Jacobs: “Well, it’s unorthodox because he played Brazil’s second division, which is Serie B. From Serie B to Bulgaria, from Bulgaria to Belgium, from Belgium to Brentford, from Brentford to the brilliant yellow shirt of Brazil.

Thiago first Brazil call-up

“Could it happen?” Vickery continued. “It is scaling Everest the hard way, but he’s putting himself in the conversation.

“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.

Resistance to calling up players from ‘minor’ Premier League clubs

“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,” Vickery added.

“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?

“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.”

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Competition for No.9 shirt at Brazil

Thiago became Brentford’s first Brazilian player when he arrived in July 2024, having agreed to make the move five months earlier.

Yet despite his then tender age, he had already enjoyed a nomadic career after playing at a regional level for Vere in his homeland.

Bulgarian side Ludogorets signed Thiago from Cruzeiro four years ago, and his 15 goals helped ‘The Eagles’ win the title in 2022/23.

He joined Club Brugge after a single season and was named Conference League young player of the season en route to firing the Belgians to the semi-finals of the competition.

Thiago was then on the move again, this time with Brentford, but Vickery admitted he never could have predicted this form.

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“Emphatically no, because I already knew him,” Vickery added to talkSPORT on Thursday.

“I’d seen a little bit of him in the second division, but only a little bit. But, second division, Bulgaria, Brazilian international striker, behave.

“It’s a symbol of what Brentford do, because if you’re the size of Brentford, you’ve got to be creative.

“You’ve got to be looking for talent in places that other people aren’t looking for it.

“So I think it’s a fabulous story. A lot of his competitors are in the Premier League, and Ancelotti is dividing this number nine position, either off the bench or to start, into two.

“There’s the ones who are a mixture of a nine and a ten, which is Matheus Cunha, who has got first dibs on that, with João Pedro of Chelsea second.

“Both of them have benefited from moves to more higher-profile clubs. João Pedro certainly benefited from what he did in the Club World Cup, which was huge over here [in Brazil].

“For the nine, the penalty area operator, and he loves Richarlison, Ancelotti, he’s given Richarlison a lot of opportunities, and he’s been criticised for it.

“The other one is Igor Jesus, who obviously is well known in Brazil, and he won the Champions League over here with Botafogo, and he had an epic performance against Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup. But I think he’s having a pretty good year with [Nottingham] Forest.

“Most of his goals have come outside the Premier League. He’s only got one Premier League goal.

“So the mathematics looks good for Igor Thiago, but time is running out to give him a chance.

“Those FIFA dates in March, when they play France and Croatia, are absolutely vital.”