Andre Ramalho: Bayer Leverkusen's Very Own David Luiz

Bayer Leverkusen announced a deal slated in the summer for Red Bull Salzburg's Brazilian centre-back Andre Ramalho, 22, on a free transfer.

Flaunting retro Jheri curl hair, a moustache and a panache approach to defending, Ramalho could become a box-office hit being Bayer Leverkusen's answer to David Luiz—love him or hate him, you are still going to watch him.

Bayer Leverkusen sporting director Rudi Voller spoke about Ramalho's adaptability.

"Ramalho is a talented and young defensive all-rounder," Voller said, per Bayer04.de. "He will be able to help us out a lot next season in our many competitive games thanks to his versatility."

UEFA Europa League 2014-15	Tackles Per Game	Tackle Success %	Interceptions Per Game	Fouls Per Game
Andre Ramalho	2.8	77.8	3.2	1.4
Martin Stranzl	1.3	62.5	1.5	0.8
Naldo	3.7	81.5	4.5	1.2
Robin Knoche	1.7	71.4	2.0	0.7
Tony Jantschke	2.0	70.6	2.3	0.5

Talented is the right adjective from Voller because in comparison to Bundesliga centre-backs in the UEFA Europa League, Ramalho is second to Naldo in tackles per game, tackle success percentage and interceptions per game.

There is a clear opening for Ramalho at Bayer Leverkusen next season.

• Roma loanee Tin Jedvaj, who can interchange from right-back to centre-back, is a big prospect. Voller is attempting to sign Jedvaj permanently, but Roma's €10 million asking price "is not realistic," per Bild (h/t Football Italia). This means Jedvaj could be one-and-done.
• Philipp Wollscheid has been loaned out to Mainz and Stoke City this season, so his future is up in the air.
• Kyriakos Papadopoulos, on loan from Schalke, has endured an injury-affected start to the season, featuring in 139 Bundesliga minutes. His deep-seated fitness issues have hindered his career.

Reading between the lines, Voller alluded to Bayer Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt, who was hired away from Red Bull Salzburg, having a significant input in Ramalho's signing.

"[Ramalho] won the Austrian league title with Roger Schmidt," Voller said, per Bayer04.de. "[Ramalho] already had two successful seasons with [Schmidt]."

The departure of Ramalho continues an emerging trend of Red Bull Salzburg—funded by Austrian energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz—losing key starters to clubs in Europe's elite leagues.

• Kevin Kampl → Borussia Dortmund: €12 million (2015).
• Sadio Mane → Southampton: €15 million (2014).

Unlike Kampl and Mane, Red Bull Salzburg are not financially compensated by Ramalho's exit after he exercised his Bosman right to a free transfer.

Relinquishing Florian Klein (Stuttgart; 2014) and Stefan Maierhofer (Koln; 2013) without a transfer fee is trivial, but Ramalho leaving for nothing could be a substantial financial regret for Red Bull Salzburg down the line.

When you realise that all the prestigious Campeonato Paulista clubs overlooked Ramalho, a local, you begin to understand why Red Bull Salzburg misprojected his upside.

Luiz knows the feeling of being unwanted because he never made the grade at Sao Paulo, instead, using unfancied Esporte Clube Vitoria as a stepping stone to a €500,000 move to Benfica.

"For every person that gets a no, there's another person who's already had three no's, yet is still pursuing his dream," Luiz said, per Nike Football.

"I left home when I was fourteen years old to pursue an uncertain dream and fought very hard for it. I only saw my folks two and a half years later, but I knew I had to go through this hardship if someday I was to arrive where I wanted."

Instead of starring in Brazil's top flight, Ramalho played at Red Bull Brasil, a bottom-tier Brazilian startup club, where he was noticed by youth academy director Carlos Andrade. 

Credit: instagram.com/ramalho92.

"I have just returned from a trip to Austria where we transferred Andre Ramalho, a young Brazilian player, over to the Red Bull Salzburg academy," Andrade said, per Tim Sturtridge at RedBull.com. "We are all very interested to see how Andre develops his game in Europe. He is a skilful attacking midfielder who idolises Kaka."

Ramalho utilised his creativity, dribbling and flair—attributes he gained as a midfielder—to develop into a ball-playing centre-back.

This is the same evolution Luiz underwent at Vitoria, as explained by his coach at the time Joao Paulo Sampaio.

"The defenders at [Vitoria often] played in midfield, before shifting to centre-back," Sampaio said, per Jamie Jackson at The Guardian. "[Why?] They get more contact with the ball and a better understanding of space."

A year and seven months ago, Ramalho was playing at FC Liefering—Red Bull Salzburg's feeder team—in a regional game against FC Wacker Innsbruck II while being watched by 200 people.

Credit: Transfermarkt.de.

In a 10 month-period, Ramalho's stock jumped from €200,000 to €3 million, per Transfermarkt.de.

Red Bull Salzburg were behind the eight ball in renewing Ramalho's expiring contract.

Bayer Leverkusen said checkmate perhaps hoping one day Ramalho procures a Luiz-esque €49.5 million transfer fee.

+allanjiang.

When not specified, statistics via WhoScored.com.