Infamous Massimo Cellino signing Adryan heads back to Brazil

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Leeds United made plenty of interesting signings during Massimo Cellino’s era of ownership. One of the more eye-catching was that of Brazilian talent Adryan. 

He arrived with something of a reputation. The young playmaker had a fine record for Brazil at under-17 level and ended up replacing Ronaldinho in the Flamengo first-team as a teenager. Nicknamed ‘the new Zico’ there was plenty of hype about the player.

However, he struggled to live up to those high expectations in Europe, including during his time at Leeds.

Leeds snapped the Brazilian wonderkid up from Cagliari, Cellino’s former club, on loan with the view to complete a permanent £3 million deal (YEP). 

But the physical nature of the English game did not suit Adryan’s style. He spent the 2014-15 season at Elland Road but struggled to have any real impact. His time at Leeds is now considered infamous because of a comical dive he performed against Derby County in November 2014. The play-acting earned him the unofficial ‘Fall-on d’Floor’ parody trophy online. 

Since his time at Leeds, Adryan had a season on loan at Nantes, briefly returned to Flamengo before joining Swiss side Sion in July 2017. 

But the Leeds cult figure is now back in Brazil. Adryan joined Avai earlier this week. His new team were relegated from Brazil’s top-flight last term, after going through a period of 20 games without a win from September to January. 

Leeds United fans will no doubt always remember Adryan for that dive but hopefully, the one-time ‘new Zico’ can make something of his talents back in his homeland.