For Leandro Damiao, it was always London.



Something kept drawing him back, hinting at a future overflowing with possibility. It felt like the opening half of a romantic comedy, fate repeatedly throwing our two star-crossed lovers together.



First there was his senior Brazil debut, played out to the competing strains of samba drums and Scottish bagpipes at Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. A few months later he was back in the capital, at Fulham’s Craven Cottage this time, leading the line for the Selecao against Ghana. Another visit, another milestone: with 44 minutes on the clock, he ran onto a Fernandinho through-ball to score his first international goal.



He returned the following year, too, for London 2012. Brazil came up agonisingly short in those Olympics, losing to Mexico in the final, but Damiao left his mark: his six goals making him the competition’s top scorer. They also poured fuel on the fire of what was, for a few years, one of modern...