17-year-old twins Fabio and Rafael have become to latest additions to the Manchester United squad.
The Brazilian full-backs have inked deals to move to Old Trafford from Fluminese, but although they will arrive in England on Monday they cannot play for the Red Devils until the summer, when they turn 18.
The pair were spotted during in a youth tournament in Hong Kong two years ago and were invited to Old Trafford for trials in 2006.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his team were highly impressed and this week sealed deals to bring the pair to England on a permanent basis.
"After eights visits to Manchester United, we will travel to live in England," said Rafael, who plays on the right while his brother plays on the left.
"In the last two years we went there about every three months, we stayed for 10 days and then returned to Fluminese. This time we will have the whole family, father, mother and my older brother's wife with him."
Pato's Precedence
The duo may be young, but they are both excited at the prospect of moving to Europe and confident in their abilities. Alexandre Pato, another youngster who recently made his debut for Milan, offers an example they hope to emulate. But other examples can be seen right there at Old Trafford.
"We know there are Brazilians of our age doing well, Anderson, who is our friend, at Manchester United and we talk to [Liverpool's] Lucas who used to be at Gremio by MSN," Rafael explained. "But the greatest example for us is Alexandre Pato. Who knows; perhaps we can follow the same path as The Duck"
No First Team Action
Brother Fabio meanwhile explained that United's keenness to recruit the pair meant they prevented Fluminese from using the full-backs in their first team. "The club feared that we might get hurt," said Fabio.
"We would have preferred to play, but there was also the fear that the fans would have wanted us to stay. We have just continued to train - but it is a pity we have not had the chance to play in Rio as a professional."
Olympic Ambitions
But while the brothers cannot feature for United until the summer, Fabio hasn't ruled out the chance of representing his country at this year's Beijing Olympics. "I will have only been in training for six months, without a game, at Manchester United and at the most I will have played a few friendlies," he said. "This will probably remove me from the Brazilian team, although Dunga has praised me and Jorginho [Dunga's assistant] has already talked to me about the Olympics."
The Brazilian full-backs have inked deals to move to Old Trafford from Fluminese, but although they will arrive in England on Monday they cannot play for the Red Devils until the summer, when they turn 18.
The pair were spotted during in a youth tournament in Hong Kong two years ago and were invited to Old Trafford for trials in 2006.
Sir Alex Ferguson and his team were highly impressed and this week sealed deals to bring the pair to England on a permanent basis.
"After eights visits to Manchester United, we will travel to live in England," said Rafael, who plays on the right while his brother plays on the left.
"In the last two years we went there about every three months, we stayed for 10 days and then returned to Fluminese. This time we will have the whole family, father, mother and my older brother's wife with him."
Pato's Precedence
The duo may be young, but they are both excited at the prospect of moving to Europe and confident in their abilities. Alexandre Pato, another youngster who recently made his debut for Milan, offers an example they hope to emulate. But other examples can be seen right there at Old Trafford.
"We know there are Brazilians of our age doing well, Anderson, who is our friend, at Manchester United and we talk to [Liverpool's] Lucas who used to be at Gremio by MSN," Rafael explained. "But the greatest example for us is Alexandre Pato. Who knows; perhaps we can follow the same path as The Duck"
No First Team Action
Brother Fabio meanwhile explained that United's keenness to recruit the pair meant they prevented Fluminese from using the full-backs in their first team. "The club feared that we might get hurt," said Fabio.
"We would have preferred to play, but there was also the fear that the fans would have wanted us to stay. We have just continued to train - but it is a pity we have not had the chance to play in Rio as a professional."
Olympic Ambitions
But while the brothers cannot feature for United until the summer, Fabio hasn't ruled out the chance of representing his country at this year's Beijing Olympics. "I will have only been in training for six months, without a game, at Manchester United and at the most I will have played a few friendlies," he said. "This will probably remove me from the Brazilian team, although Dunga has praised me and Jorginho [Dunga's assistant] has already talked to me about the Olympics."
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