Despite what you might have read, Gabriel Sara is not the first Brazilian to play for Norwich, that honour goes to Paul Hughes who made 4 appearances on loan from Chelsea back in 1999. However, Sara is the first dip Norwich have taken in signing a player directly from Brazil, or South America as a whole, and is the first result of the ground work the club put in place to target South American players way back in 2019. It could also represent a tangible outcome from the link up with Coritiba, the ‘exciting and surprising’ news Webber trailed in his post-season interview.
As a player Gabriel Sara probably doesn’t quite fit the mould of what people may expect a Brazilian attacking midfielder to look like, he isn’t a player full of deft dribbling and exuberant flair but more based on hard running and exertion. Not that his technical abilities should be downplayed, he certainly isn’t incapable of moments of magic and can definitely beat an opponent in a one-on-one, those just aren’t the fundamentals his game is based on.
In his time at Sao Paulo he has shown his versatility, playing in numerous positions in numerous formations. He has seen significant minutes as a left winger in a 4–4–2/4–2–3–1/4–1–3–2, or on the right hand side (especially in 2020) in similar formations, played as an 8 in a 3–4–3/3–5–2 and as a 10 in a 4–4–1–1/3–4–1–2. Basically, he has played pretty much every position in Sao Paulo’s midfield, apart from the ‘6’ as well as even putting in a few performances as wingback on either side. This constant chopping and changing has probably made it harder to really determine exactly where his best position is, or what role he is best deployed in. In his short career at Sao Paulo he has already had 7 different managers all with slightly different styles.
Sara’s radar (above) looks more like a striker than a midfielder in many ways. Lots of touches in the box, lots of shots and pretty low levels of creation for other players. Although, promisingly for Pukki he does have an above average level of attempted through balls and accuracy of those types of passes. Any Norwich fan will know this is the type of pass the Finnish striker thrives on and after Buendia leaving there has been a distinct lack of from the Norwich squad.
It is definitely fair to say Sara loves a shot and, to be honest, he probably loves a shot a little too much. Since July 2021 he has taken 76 shots across all competitions, scoring just 5 times from a combined xG of 6.06. This gives him an xG per shot of 0.08 and a conversion rate of 6.6%. He is reminiscent of the fellow Brazilian player, Hulk who has operated a shoot on sight policy through-out his career.
His shot locations (below) show why his conversation rate is so low, with a large number of shots coming from very poor locations and the majority outside of the box. This is bad decision making and is something that should probably be coached out of him if possible. It could also point to why his creativity numbers are low, as he is looking to shoot more than he is looking to setup a team mate.
Something that Sara does do very well in though is the ‘third man run’ and making line breaking movements. He usually does this in one of two ways; either by starting in a slightly wider position and then dropping deep, dragging he marker with him. He will then bend his run and use his pace to move into space that has been created by the movement of teammates.
Another common run that Sara makes is coming from a deeper, narrower position to get between the full-back and centre-back onto long, diagonal balls.
It has often been these runs from deep that Norwich have lacked, in Farke’s 4–2–3–1 the deeper midfielders tended to keep their shape and not burst forward, especially in the Premier League. The switch to a 4–3–3 saw any midfielder really lacking this desire to burst forward, even though that may have been part of the thinking behind the signing of Pierre Lees-Melou.
On the ball, Gabriel Sara’s metrics don’t stand out too much. His success rate at dribbling is low, but mainly due to his desire to do so in difficult situations or areas. He has a pass completion rate of around 80% which is low in a Sao Paulo side that looks to dominate possession, but again he is generally on the ball in advanced positions so is attempting more difficult passes. He is good at getting the ball into the box via progressive runs or passes, the latter usually coming from wider positions so not as likely to create high value chances.
Off the ball, Sara is a hard worker and prepared to do the unglamorous side of the game. He presses enthusiastically, although sometimes without being aware of whether it is a good moment to do so or not. He can get caught out of position by pushing up too high when not adequately supported, but this is something that can be improved through coaching and might be a reflection of the regular chopping and changing of coaches and systems at Sao Paulo. He makes a good level of ball recoveries, mostly through his counter-press, rather than through interceptions or positioning and is a proficient tackler. He can be questionable in his positioning, again his attacking instincts can get the best of him and he’ll drift further forward than he probably should do, that being said he does have a good awareness of his surroundings and regularly scans both when his team is in and out of possession.
Overall, Gabriel Sara looks an intriguing prospect. He doesn’t fit particularly neatly into any particular ‘traditional’ role. He is more attack focused than you would normally expect from an 8, but works harder off the ball and lacks the guile you’d expect from a 10. If Norwich are going to switch to a higher pressing system then his energy and endeavour could prove fruitful as long as he can curb some of his over-enthusiasms. This can also be said for much of his game, you don’t have to watch much video of Gabriel to see he is still very raw, and plays on instinct. Lots of wasteful shots, dribbles in risky areas and loose touches show this is a work in progress, rather than the finished product. This is ultimately the key to whether transfer works out. Norwich are signing a raw talent from Brazil but with that comes a large risk. A risk that the injury Gabriel sustained has a lasting impact, a risk that he finds the adaption to moving away from Brazil a struggle, a risk that he struggles to adapt to the Championship.
There are few (no?) examples of players coming straight from Brazil and into the Championship, usually South Americans will only come to England after having played elsewhere in Europe first, giving recruitment teams a better understanding of how they might adapt and how their performances elsewhere might translate once they have signed.
How he fits into Norwich’s plans will also be interesting to see develop. It is hard to see him play as one of the two holding midfielders in a 4–2–3–1 due to his desire to get into attacking positions, although in games against weaker opposition in the Championship were Norwich expect to dominate might see an opportunity for him there. His arrival though, probably represents the biggest challenge for Kenny McLean’s place in the starting line-up since he broke into the side. Fortunately for Norwich and Gabriel, due to McLean being unlikely to leave this summer, there is no rush to get the Brazilian into the team and fully firing, and a gradual introduction to the team should be expected even beyond that required to come back from his ankle surgery.
Norwich taking such a risk on a player is fairly surprising, considering the swings and misses made last summer and the talk of Dean Smith wanting establish, experienced players to make up the bulk of his activity in the transfer market. The fees being quoted (although these should probably be taken with a pinch of salt, especially ones from the Brazilian media) also seem out-of-step to what Norwich were expected to do.
