Quote Originally Posted by Wales-Bales View Post
Snippet from an article posted in The Athletic:

Richarlison was living at America Mineiro’s training ground when a shipment of clothing arrived with his name on it.

He was only a teenager, still just a ripple on the surface of the Brazilian game, but he had just agreed his first sponsorship deal with Nike. So they sent him tracksuits, training kit, shoes and boots, all shiny and box-fresh.

It would have been an exciting moment for any young player; for Richarlison, who had been selling ice lollies on dirt roads just a couple of years prior, it must have felt completely surreal. In the circumstances, he would have been forgiven for feeling a swell of pride, or even lording it over his team-mates. But no, that wasn’t Richarlison. Richarlison had other plans.

Quietly, he retreated to his room. He took all of his old clothes and stuffed them into a suitcase, then walked out of the main gate. The other kids in the dormitory had no idea what he was up to; when he returned, a couple of hours later, he still wouldn’t tell them. The truth only emerged later, after much pestering from his room-mate.

Richarlison had taken his belongings into town, to the centre of Belo Horizonte, and handed them out to homeless people. “He gave them everything, including the suitcase,” recalls Guilherme Xavier, one of his closest friends from the time.
"Whatever the future holds for him, he won’t change. That much is evident when you speak to those who carry memories of Richarlison in their hearts and minds.

“What really stays with me is his big heart,” concludes Marcao. “I once had the opportunity to go to Liverpool and see a few (Everton) games. He hosted us and gave us such a great reception. He was generous and attentive, with the sense of joy that he always had.

“We ate with him at the stadium after one of the matches. He took out his phone and showed me a video. It was of us working together at the Fluminense training ground, late one evening. Night was falling, but there we were, me, him and a goalkeeper, working on his finishing. He hadn’t forgotten it; he kept the memory with him, and the video is still on his phone, all these years later.

“That’s what makes the kid such a winner. He remembers his roots and the people who helped him get where he is today. Even though he is now strutting his stuff out in the big, wide world, he is still the Richarlison I knew. That is the best present you can receive as a coach.”

Honestly Mike, Moodybluebird should be permanently banned for this