Shaved heads and a lucky charm - the touching story that sums up Nottingham Forest summer signing

Nottingham Forest summer signing Morato was once viewed as a brighter prospect than Reds teammate Murillo in Brazil

If there is a story that best sums up Nottingham Forest summer signing Morato it is one involving a six-year-old youngster who was diagnosed with brain cancer.

The defender is yet to really make his mark for the Reds since his deadline day move from Benfica. Although viewed as a good prospect, so far he has been limited to a couple of substitute appearances in the Premier League.

But according to one observer who has followed Morato since his youth career back in Brazil, he is a player with “great potential” who can be a leader on and off the pitch. And there is one particular heart-warming example of his qualities. The tale goes back to 2019, when the centre-back won the Copinha - the most famous Under-20s tournament in the country - on penalties with Sao Paulo.

“Back then, he and other players from the team became friends with Larissa, a six-year-old girl who loves the club and was diagnosed with brain cancer,” Diogo Magri, a reporter from Premier League Brasil, tells NottinghamshireLive. “She became kind of a mascot, a lucky charm during that campaign, going to the matches and entering the pitch with the players.

“Before the final, against Vasco, all Sao Paulo Under-20 players shaved their heads to say thank you for the support, surprise her and give her strength to fight the cancer. Everyone but Morato. That's because Morato had lost his sister, Rafaela, to cancer, four months before that. So, he came up with a different idea.

“Everyone arrived in the stadium for the final with shaved heads, except Morato. In the locker room, before entering the pitch, he then asked Larissa to shave his head. He did so to make her feel even more part of the team and to remember his sister. Sao Paulo played the final all with shaved heads, won on penalties (Morato took one and scored) and celebrated the title with Larissa.

“It was a beautiful example of his personality, leadership and, of course, great potential as a player. He is a guy that I wish all the best for. Larissa survived the cancer and sometimes appears at Sao Paulo matches.”

Magri says Morato was widely viewed as “the best defender” in the Copinha that year, and he was snapped up by Benfica shortly afterwards. He went on to make close to 50 league appearances for the Portuguese outfit before his switch to the City Ground.

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The 23-year-old has his work cut out to force his way into Nuno Espirito Santo’s starting XI at the moment, given the impressive partnership Murillo and Nikola Milenkovic have developed. However, Magri is in no doubt Morato will show what he is about eventually - pointing out that at one stage the Reds’ newcomer was seen as having greater potential than Murillo.

“Morato was one of the great left-footed centre-backs that the Sao Paulo youth team had in recent years,” he adds. “Sao Paulo fans were very angry when the club sold him to Benfica without making an appearance for the adult team.

“Everyone saw that, even at 17 years old, he could be one of the best defenders to play for the club in recent years. However, Sao Paulo was struggling financially and had to negotiate him.

“He is a good combination between a tall and physically strong player and a defender who knows what to do with the ball. He was always known for finding good passes from the defence. He could also play as a left-back, but it's fair to say that his best qualities appear as a centre-back.

“He may need to improve his intensity to play in a league like the Premier League. He has good technique but could suffer with the game speed and high level intensity in the first few months.

“He had some injuries at Benfica that delayed his development. Benfica seemed a good place for him to develop his football in a European context, but the amount of good defenders at the club made it more difficult than expected, in my vision, and also delayed his development. He only had opportunities when one of them couldn't play and also had bad experiences when improvised as a left-back.

“That said, going to the Premier League, to a club that gives chances to young players and has Brazilian company, where he could learn from Murillo, seems like a great step for me. He needs to play and to get more minutes than in the past five years to show what he is capable of.

“Comparing only the Under-20 period in Brazil, he was considered to be a centre-back with more potential than Murillo and Gabriel Magalhaes, for example. So of course he could do well in England.”

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