Maurício Souza explains why Flamengo let Samuel Lino leave as a youth player | OneFootball

Former Flamengo coach Maurício Souza says the club opted not to keep Samuel Lino during his 2018 loan because of intense competition for places and an expiring deal.

"Samuel Lino was at Flamengo at 18 in the academy. He won the Copa São Paulo with us. He came from futsal and is very good. The goal he scored against Cruzeiro shows that threat," he told Charla Podcast.

"A very good winger, an intelligent player, but there was heavy competition. He arrived on loan, his contract was ending and Flamengo did not exercise the purchase at the time. Lino is from 1998."

"They decided not to buy, that was the generation before Vinícius’ generation. He was returned, then went to Portugal, then Atlético de Madrid, until coming back."

Lino joined on loan from São Bernardo to Flamengo’s under-20s at 18, then returned to his parent club in the same year.

He later played for Gil Vicente in Portugal and was bought by Atlético de Madrid, before Flamengo paid €22 million, around R$143-144 million, to sign him in 2025.

The No 16 faced criticism in 2025 despite Flamengo winning the Brasileirão and the Libertadores. This year he is among the standouts, with nine goals and 10 assists in 40 matches.

Source: Coluna Do Fla

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”