He came into Elland Road heralded as ‘the next Zico’ and fans salivated at the signing of the prospect who was named Adryan. YouTube was plundered of his compilation videos. Despite the hype, it didn’t quite work out well for the lad.
When Leeds United announced the quite convoluted signature of Brazilian starlet Adryan Oliveira Tavares on loan from Cagliari via Rio-based Flamengo, it is safe to say that Whites fans were extremely excited at the prospect of such a highly-rated youngster joining the club. The rabid excitement of the fans at Elland Road was ramped up somewhat in a 28-minute cameo against Rotherham, who were managed by current Leeds United head coach Steve Evans.
After this whetting of appetites, well it didn’t really gel for the youngster. Yes he did assist two goals, one a length of the field, box-to-box effort scored by Souleymane Doukara after neat Leeds United interplay finished at the end of an exquisitely weighted Adryan pass. However, the rest of his time as a Leeds United player was mere flashes of what he was about, what Adryan could offer. Apart from that, he flitted out, in and then finally out of the first team set up with some observers, including then head coach Neil Redfearn, saying that he was too slight for the physical rigours of the Championship.
His bit-part time in a Leeds shirt meant that he’d never get taken on full-time at the end of the loan deal, instead his future lay elsewhere as the youngster attempted to rebuild his once-promising career. Adryan’s next port of call was at Ligue 1 Nantes, where again he has ended up on loan for the current season. The young Brazilian happily left his Leeds nightmare behind and instead headed for sunny France with an urge to show that he was ready to do everything in his power to succeed. Quoted on Sky Sports website, he said of joining Nantes, “I am very happy to be here. My dream was always to play in Europe and I have that chance today. I will do everything to seize this opportunity. My friends have told me a lot of the club and I have seen for myself that it is really a great club. I have to do my best on the field to satisfy the fans.”
Playing regularly at Nantes seems to certainly be paying off for the young playmaker, especially judging by his brace of well-taken goals (below) in a 3-2 loss to Bourg-en-Bresse in the last-16 stage of the French Coupe de la Ligue.
