Hearts take a chance on boy from Brazil

GRAHAM BEAN

HEARTS took a step into the unknown yesterday when they signed the Brazilian midfielder Samuel Almeida Camazzola without having watched him play.

The player was identified by Vladimir Romanov, Hearts' major shareholder, and has joined on loan until the end of the season from Juventude, a Brazilian first division club.

George Burley, the Tynecastle manager, admitted moves for several other players failed to come to fruition but said he was excited at the arrival of Camazzola, who can play in the middle of midfield or on the right.

"I haven't seen him play live and it was through Mr Romanov we got him. We've spoken to a number of people about him and they've been impressed. To be in the top league in Brazil playing regularly suggests he has a lot of ability.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the boy [play]. The contacts I have in Brazil rate the player very highly," said Burley. "He's a young player with a lot of potential who's very good on the ball. It could be very exciting but we're not getting carried away."

Camazzola, 23 yesterday, has an Italian passport and thus does not require a work permit to play in Scotland. He has Italian ancestry but hails from the southern Brazilian city of Caxias do Sul, just north of Porto Alegre.

Juventude are his local side and he has been attached to them since the age of 12. Since breaking into the first team he has played against such luminaries as Rivaldo, Romario and Dunga, and says he is unfazed by the experiences of compatriots Juninho and Rafael Scheidt, whose moves to Scotland to join Celtic quickly soured.

Scheidt, infamously, was signed by Celtic for £4.8million without anyone at Parkhead having watched him play. Although the defender's time in Scotland was little short of disastrous, Camazzola contacted a friend of Scheidt's to seek information about the SPL. "I know that Celtic, Rangers and Hearts are the best teams in Scotland and it's an honour to join a side who are doing so well," Camazzola said through an interpreter.

Hearts have an option to sign the player on a longer term deal should he impress.

"A loan's ideal for us," Burley said. "We can look at him and see how well he settles here. We're not committed in the long term so we'll see how it goes.

"As with any foreign player, we'll see how quickly he adapts to the British style of game. First impressions are always a key thing for me and he seems very enthusiastic and is a boy who wants to do very well over here."

Despite Hearts riding high at the top of the league with five wins from the opening five games, Burley has contended for some time that the squad needs strengthened, and the club announced late last night that they had signed Ibrahim Tall, the Senegalese right-back, from the French side Sochaux, subject to international clearance.

The player flew into Edinburgh from Paris yesterday evening and will train with Hearts this morning. It is an area of the team Burley had been keen to strengthen for some time, with Robbie Neilson the only recognised right back at the club.

While the deal for Tall is likely to be ratified today, Burley has admitted defeat in his bid to bring in the Polish midfielder Radoslaw Sobolewski from Wisla Krakow. The manager said: "The Polish guy was a lad I really wanted to bring to the club because he has smashing ability but unfortunately we've been unable to prise him away."

Tall is the ninth new player to arrive at the club since the summer and Burley refused to rule out further moves.

"If you look at our squad in Dublin [during the pre-season tour] we've come a million miles," said the manager. "At the end of the day I've got a squad of players and I'll pick who's right for the team. That will never change. Maybe in January there will be the possibility of adding another one or two."

Taken from the Scotsman