The Mirror have claimed that Manchester United have agreed a £26m deal with Sao Paulo to sign Lucas Moura but the manager has denied an agreement has been reached.

“We haven’t reached an agreement for the player,” he said. “We’ve shown an interest but until such time as we get a deal agreed we can’t say he’s our player.”

1. He usually wears shirt number 7 at both his club and also at Brazil’s national team.

2. He started his career at Marcelinho Carioca’s youth academy, and quickly got nicknamed Marcelinho due to supposedly looking like the former Corinthians player. The young star eventually got tired of getting called ‘Marcelinho’ and requested to be called just ‘Lucas’, as Marcelinho Carioca is one of the biggest idols of São Paulo’s arch-rivals Corinthians. He quickly became known as ‘Lucas Moura’ as he started to get called up for Brazil’s national team, where Lucas Leiva from Liverpool was already a regular part of the team.

3. He was part of the São Paulo team that won Copa São Paulo de Juniores, the most prestigious youth tournament in Brazil. His success in that tournament enabled him to be promoted to São Paulo’s senior team.

4. His first big competition at Brazil’s national team was the South American Under 20 Championship in January 2011, which Brazil won. He was one of the key players in that team alongside Neymar.

5. He scored his first international goal in September, in a game against Argentina for the Superclásico de las Américas trophy, where only home-based players were eligible to play.

6. He is arguably the most promising player to come from São Paulo’s academy since Kaká.

7. He is right-footed and is a very versatile player, being able to play as an attacking midfielder and as a right winger, but currently prefers to play as a forward. His main qualities are his speed and his dribbling skills, which help him anticipate and overcome defences, making him an effective forward at São Paulo. as his finishing is also pretty good although could be improved. These qualities and the fact he is relatively strong despite being short could prove useful in more physical leagues such as the English Premier League.

8. Lucas also has good passing skills, but he seldom takes advantage of that ability, preferring to dribble rather than to pass, also annoying teammates and fans alike.

9. Unlike Ganso, for example, he is not an injury prone player and does not get involved in any problems or controversies off the pitch.

10. Once he can improve his mentality on the pitch, he will be set to become one of the top Brazilian players, and will be comparable to Neymar, who already shows maturity on the pitch despite being only 20 years old. But right now he is still behind not only Neymar, but also Oscar, who is a more complete, decisive and consistent player than Lucas.

Read this article in full at By Far The Greatest Team. for even more information on Lucas Moura.

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For the best updates on Brazil and Latin America football, follow Paulo Freitas on Twitter and read his blog O Jogo Bonito.