Meet the 17-year-old striker who made his first-team debut for Santos | OneFootball

Santos’ 4-2 defeat to Chapecoense last Wednesday, in the first round of the Brazilian Championship, featured something new. Forward Fernando Pradella made his debut for the Peixe’s professional team.

The 17-year-old player came on at the 32nd minute of the second half, replacing Lautaro Díaz. In just over 13 minutes on the field, the Menino da Vila had little opportunity to participate in the match. He had only three touches on the ball and no shots on goal.

Pradella has been training with the professional squad since the start of the season. In fact, the youngster wasn’t even listed for this year’s Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior.

In 2025, the center-forward played for the under-17s. He appeared in 22 matches, starting 13 of them, and scored six goals. In 2024, he netted the same number of goals in 19 appearances for the category. That same year, he played six matches for the under-20s and found the net twice.

Europe Watching

Although he made his professional debut this week, Pradella is already attracting attention from European football. Last year, Borussia Dortmund from Germany even made an offer to sign the player when he turns 18, on July 3, 2026. However, talks have since cooled.

Background

Fernando Pradella, born in 2008 in Osasco (SP), started playing football at age 4, in São Paulo’s babyfut program. He played for futsal teams such as Company Futsal Osasco, K9pro, Barueri, and Corinthians before transitioning to the field, with stints at São Paulo, Audax, Desportivo Brasil, and a training period at Referência.

The forward joined Santos in April 2022 and quickly stood out. During the same period, he signed a sponsorship deal with Nike and was called up to the Under-15 National Team. Since 2024, he has been alternating between the under-17 and under-20 squads.

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