Full-back surprises fans, named São Paulo’s top newcomer of 2024 | OneFootball

After completely overhauling their left flank, São Paulo bet on two names for the 2025 season. The one arriving with more fame and higher expectations was Wendell, from Porto, who had recent stints with the Brazilian National Team. His competitor was Enzo Díaz, a River Plate player who was swapped in a deal involving Galoppo.

In the initial rotation of players, where Wendell was considered ‘more offensive’ and Enzo had greater defensive power, the Argentine began to gain more space. Grit, commitment, and determination were qualities he showed right from the start. But he also began to prove important in attack.

He scored a goal and provided seven assists, making him the top assist provider for Tricolor in 2025, alongside Luciano. Except for the team’s forwards, Enzo Díaz was the player most involved in São Paulo’s goals this season.

In a poll conducted on the AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR YouTube channel, Enzo was chosen by a significant margin as São Paulo’s best newcomer of the year, with 54% of over 10,000 votes from São Paulo fans.

In second place was attacking midfielder Lucas Ferreira, who has already been sold to Ukrainian football. The skillful winger, developed in Cotia, received 19% of the votes.

Another talented winger, the young Lucca, took 3rd place, garnering 14% of the votes, and right-back Maik was close behind, with 13% of the Tricolor fans’ preference this year.

Despite the choice of the Argentine wingback, many São Paulo fans also criticized Enzo, especially for the excessive number of penalties committed by the player and his sometimes overly aggressive approach in certain plays against opponents.

Even so, he ended up as a solid name on Tricolor’s left side, largely due to the frequent injuries of his rival for the position, Wendell, who also failed to impress when he did play.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.