Igor Thiago Explained

Igor Thiago
Full Name:Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues
Birth Date:2001 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Gama, Federal District, Brazil[1]
Height:1.88 m
Position:Forward
Currentclub:Brentford
Clubnumber:9
Youthclubs1:Gremio Ocidental
Youthclubs2:Verê
Youthclubs3:Cruzeiro
Years1:2020–2022
Clubs1:Cruzeiro
Caps1:60
Goals1:9
Years2:2022
Clubs2:Ludogorets Razgrad II
Caps2:4
Goals2:3
Years3:2022–2023
Clubs3:Ludogorets Razgrad
Caps3:34
Goals3:16
Years4:2023–2024
Clubs4:Club Brugge
Caps4:34
Goals4:18
Years5:2024–
Clubs5:Brentford
Caps5:0
Goals5:0
Club-Update:13:52, 20 July 2024 (UTC)

Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues (born 26 June 2001), known as Igor Thiago or just Thiago, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Brentford.

Early life

Born in Gama, a small city close to capital Brasília, Thiago was 13 years old when he lost his father, and supported his street-cleaner mother María Diva by working in construction as a bricklayer, odd-jobbing at fairs, and by handing out flyers.[2]

He did not consider a career in football, but began playing at Gremio Ocidental, where his brother was already a player. He started playing futsal and had trials at several teams before joining the under-17 team of Verê, from the interior of Paraná. He later joined Cruzeiro's academy.[3]

Club career

Cruzeiro

On 22 January 2020, Thiago made his professional debut as an 18-year-old when he started for Cruzeiro in their Campeonato Mineiro match against Boa Esporte.[4]

Despite being in the first-team squad for two years, Thiago did not play for Cruzeiro in Brazil's Série A, with his 64 appearances instead coming in Série B, the Mineiro and the Copa do Brasil.[5]

Ludogorets Razgrad

After a series of rumours, on 2 March 2022, Thiago finally signed with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad.[6] He joined the Ludogorets II to adapt better with the Bulgarian team and made his debut for the second team on 18 April in a league match against Litex Lovech, scoring his debut goal in the match.[7] A week later he scored two goals for the second team in the league match against Dobrudzha Dobrich.[8]

His good start for the second team granted him a call-up for the first team where he made his debut in a league match against CSKA Sofia with Igor Thiago coming on as a substitute and scoring his debut goal for the first team as well.[9]

While at Ludogorets, the club won back-to-back Bulgarian First League titles for 2021–22 and 2022–23, plus the 2023 Bulgarian Cup and 2022 Bulgarian Supercup, scoring 21 goals in 55 games.

Club Brugge

On 12 June 2023, Thiago signed for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge on a four-year contract.[10] The €7.9 million fee received by Ludogorets was a record for a Bulgarian club.[11]

Having started in a 3-0 win over Aarhus in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers on 27 July 2023, Thiago scored in his first two league games for Club Brugge, a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw against Mechelen,[12] then netting the only goal in a 1-0 win at Westerlo to put the club near the top of the table early in the season.[13]

Scoring the opening goal in a 4-2 win over Charleroi on 16 September 2023 saw him reach six goals in all competitions,[14] but Thiago didn't score in Club's next nine games, finally breaking his duck in a 6-0 Belgian Cup victory at Beerschot on 1 November.[15] However, there were no more league goals until December of that year.

Netting a double in a 5-0 away win over Beşiktaş in the Conference League sparked a major goalscoring run from the Brazilian striker,[16] going on to fire 18 goals in his next 12 games across December 2023 and January 2024. Thiago was only shut out in one of those matches, against Mechelen where a header he scored was erroneously ruled out for offside.[17] [18] After that blank, Thiago scored in his next eight games.[19]

Brentford

On 14 February 2024, Brentford announced an agreement for the signing of Thiago on a five-year deal, to be effective as of 1 July 2024.[20] The fee was undisclosed by the club, but reported to be in the region of a club-record £30 million.[21] In Belgian terms, this was a new Pro League record sale of €38 million.[22]

On 20 July 2024, Thiago suffered a meniscus injury on his Brentford debut in a pre-season friendly, and was subsequently ruled out of action for the remainder of the year.[23]

International career

Born in Brazil, Thiago received a Bulgarian passport in 2023, which made him available to play for both Brazil and Bulgaria.[24] [25] In January 2024 he received a call-up for Brazil U23, but declined it, despite the fact he said it would be a dream to represent Brazil on international level.[26]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueState leagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Cruzeiro2020Série B180633000273
2021254400000294
20220072110083
Total4341754100006410
Ludogorets Razgrad II2021–22Bulgarian Second League4343
Ludogorets Razgrad2021–22Bulgarian First League2100000021
2022–23321551154105320
Total34160051154105521
Club Brugge2023–24Belgian Pro League3418541675529
Career total1154117514631112017863

Honours

Ludogorets Razgrad

Club Brugge

2023–24

Individual

2023–24[27]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Costa . Maic . Ex-Cruzeiro, Thiago superou infância difícil e hoje brilha na Europa . Trivela . 29 August 2023 . 16 October 2023 . Portuguese . 20 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231020205033/https://trivela.com.br/europa/thiago-brugge-cruzeiro/ . live .
  2. News: Igor Thiago, la primera venta de Ronaldo en Cruzeiro, destaca en el rival de Osasuna en la Conference (Igor Thiago, Ronaldo's first sale in Cruzeiro, stands out in Osasuna's rival in the Conference). Marca. Spanish. 30 August 2023. 16 Feb 2024.
  3. News: Igor Thiago: Who is the Club Brugge striker heading to the Premier League as Brentford's possible Ivan Toney replacement?. Sky Sports. 15 February 2024. 16 Feb 2024.
  4. Web site: Cruzeiro vs. Boa 2 - 0 . Soccerway . 25 January 2020 . 11 February 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210211072158/https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2020/01/23/brazil/mineiro-1/cruzeiro-esporte-clube-belo-horizonte/ituiutaba-esporte-clube/3193206/ . live .
  5. News: Ex-Cruzeiro, Thiago superou infância difícil e hoje brilha na Europa (Former Cruzeiro player Thiago overcame a difficult childhood and now shines in Europe). Trivela. Portuguese. 29 August 2023. 16 Feb 2024.
  6. Web site: Тиаго и Групер: Идваме в голям клуб . 30 April 2022 . 15 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230415230512/https://www.ludogorets.com/bg/news/?i=4704 . live .
  7. Web site: Лудогорец II загуби с 1:2 от Литекс (Ловеч) . 30 April 2022 . 15 April 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230415230512/https://ludogorets.com/bg/news/?i=4798 . live .
  8. Web site: Два гола на нов не спомогнаха на Лудогорец 2, Добруджа с витален успех . 30 April 2022 . 30 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220430222604/https://gong.bg/bg-football/vtora-liga/multimedia/video/dva-gola-na-nov-ne-spomognaha-na-ludogorec-2-dobrudzha-s-vitalen-uspeh-679661 . live .
  9. Web site: Лудогорец с шампионска победа над ЦСКА-София . 30 April 2022 . 30 April 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220430222605/https://ludogorets.com/bg/news/?i=4818 . live .
  10. Web site: Igor Thiago moves to Club Brugge. www.clubbrugge.be/en. English. 12 June 2023. 12 June 2023. 12 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230612161316/https://www.clubbrugge.be/en/news/igor-thiago-moves-to-club-brugge. live.
  11. Web site: Лудогорец реализира рекорден трансфер. Ludogorets realized a record transfer. Bulgarian. www.ludogorets.com. 12 June 2023. 12 June 2023. 12 June 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230612161316/https://www.ludogorets.com/bg/news/?i=5539. live.
  12. News: Club Brugge laat meteen punten liggen tegen KV Mechelen, dat vloekt op de VAR én 1-2 laat liggen (Club Brugge immediately drops points against KV Mechelen, who criticise VAR and misses 2-1 win). Sporza. 30 July 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  13. News: Dominant Club Brugge bibbert in slot naar eerste seizoenszege op bezoek bij Westerlo (Dominant Club Brugge finally staggers towards its first victory of season at Westerlo). Sporza. 6 August 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  14. News: Wonderboy Antonio Nusa schenkt Club Brugge ultiem de overwinning na kat-en-muisspelletje met Charleroi (Wonderboy Antonio Nusa gives Club Brugge ultimate victory after cat-and-mouse game with Charleroi). Sporza. 16 September 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  15. News: Club Brugge bezorgt het Kiel een horroravond en smeert Beerschot een 0-6-pandoering aan (Club Brugge gives Kiel a horror evening and Beerschot a 6-0 pounding). Sporza. 1 November 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  16. News: Club Brugge speelt een absolute referentiematch en smeert Besiktas forfaitscore aan (A milestone match for Club Brugge, beating Besiktas by a forfeit score). Sporza. 30 November 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  17. News: Zegereeks Club Brugge wordt afgebroken door stug KV Mechelen (Club Brugge's winning streak is interrupted by tough KV Mechelen). Sporza. 10 December 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  18. News: KIJK. "Match wordt niet herspeeld": Referee Department licht blunder bij goal Thiago toe, Van Damme voorlopig geen VAR meer (WATCH. "Match will not be replayed": Referee Department explains blunder at Thiago goal, Van Damme no longer VAR for the time being). Het Laatste Nieuws. 11 December 2023. 16 February 2024. nl.
  19. News: Plots is de twijfelspits de strafste van Europa: hoe valt de transformatie van Igor Thiago te verklaren? (Suddenly the peak of doubt is the strongest in Europe: how can Igor Thiago's transformation be explained?). Sporza. 23 January 2024. 16 February 2024. nl.
  20. Web site: Brentford Sign Forward Igor Thiago . Brentford FC . 14 February 2024 . 14 February 2024.
  21. Web site: Brentford announce £30m signing of Club Brugge striker Igor Thiago . The Guardian . 14 February 2024 . 15 February 2024.
  22. News: Het verhaal achter de (stiekeme) recordtransfer van Igor Thiago: "Zelfs Fabrizio Romano wist dit niet" (The story behind Igor Thiago's (secret) record transfer: "Even Fabrizio Romano didn't know this"). Sporza. 15 February 2024. 16 February 2024. nl.
  23. Web site: Brentford signing Thiago out until end of year . BBC Sport . 31 July 2024 . 31 July 2024.
  24. https://gong.bg/bg-football/nacionalen-tim/multimedia/video/v-belgiia-tiago-mozhe-da-e-ot-izkliuchitelna-polza-za-bylgariia-769631 В Белгия: Тиаго може да е от изключителна полза за България
  25. https://www.gol.bg/a/296-nacionalen-otbor/384197-glasyat-senzatsiyata-igor-tiago-za-natsional-na-balgariya Гласят сензацията Игор Тиаго за национал на България
  26. https://gong.bg/football-sviat/drugi/multimedia/video/igor-tiago-poluchi-povikvatelna-ot-braziliia-i-ia-otkaza-772926 Игор Тиаго получи повиквателна от Бразилия и я отказа
  27. Web site: UEFA.com . 2024-06-01 . Club Brugge's Thiago named 2023/24 Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season UEFA Europa Conference League . 2024-06-01 . UEFA.com . en.