Flamengo right-back Wesley is another player that has been linked to Liverpool recently and the Brazil international is touted to be one of the best full-back prospects in world football. It’s clear from the comparison chart above that Wesley is quite well rounded for his age and has the potential to reach the level of Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Obviously we need to qualify this by pointing out that Wesley plays in a very different league to Trent. Regardless, Wesley’s data looks very promising even when compared to one of the world’s best in his position.

Firstly, Wesley’s passing accuracy is a full 10% better than Trent’s while he also completes more of his crosses. Wesley completes twice as many dribbles as Trent, with an average of one completed dribble per 90 minutes. Wesley also has a better dribblers tackled percentage, a trend among all defenders in this list. Trent’s dribblers tackled percentage is actually in the bottom 25% amongst all full-backs.

There are also quite a few metrics by which both players perform uniformly. They both make roughly the same amount of tackles and interceptions when adjusted for possession. They also have a similar progressive carry distance and both create the same number of shots for teammates in open play. Trent provides one more delivery into the penalty area than Wesley per 90 minutes as well as producing more key passes.

Trent produces far more scoring contributions than Wesley while being dispossessed about half as often as the Brazilian. Wesley also commits three times as many fouls per 90 minutes compared to Trent.

There is always the chance that Liverpool may decide to shop outside of the European market this summer in search of a deal that presents more value than one they can find closer to home. Wesley França is the best right back in Brazil at the moment. He’s also now a Brazil international, earning two caps for the Brazil national team after a season in which he was named in the team of the year in both the league and domestic cup.

Wesley is thought to be highly sought after this summer, with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, and Barcelona all linked tentatively and his agents were spotted in England in April to meet with interested parties. If Liverpool do decide to move on Wesley this summer, it would be the first time Liverpool have bought a first-team player from outside of Europe since Sebastián Coates more than 10 years ago.

Of course, there is the question of how Wesley would adapt to the best league in the world when he has had no experience of European football, especially at just 21 years old. There’s also a question as to whether Liverpool would sign a player that’s the same age as Conor Bradley. Perhaps if Bradley is to become Liverpool’s first-choice right-back, he may be better served with a more seasoned pro acting as his deputy.

However if Liverpool prefer to sign another exciting prospect and let both full-backs battle it out for top spot, the data suggests that Wesley should be right at the top of that list.