HE is the bargain bucket hot-shot who snubbed a multi-million pound fortune to chase his dream.
The unknown Brazilian who has bagged more Premier League goals than Erling Haaland and Mo Salah over the last two months.
And a striker on the summer wish-list of the club which fuelled his hopes when he was kicking a ball around on the dusty streets of Sao Domingos do Prata as a kid.
If Rodrigo Muniz continues the form he’s shown for the last two months, those lifelong ambitions will come true before long, too.
A red-hot eight-in-eight streak for Fulham has a host of clubs on alert.
Not least boyhood heroes Manchester United, who have made another striker a priority signing.
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Scoring against Liverpool on Sunday would be one more stride down the road to riches for Muniz.
Yet had he taken a different path when with Flamengo back home, he’d already be made for life.
After little more than one season with the seniors, Al-Nasr made an eye-watering offer to try and tempt him to Dubai, in the UAE Pro League.
The prospect of a three-year contract on an annual tax-free salary of nearly £4million, plus goal bonuses, was hugely tempting… but a chat with coach Renato Gaucho changed all that.
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Gaucho, a 41-cap ex-Brazil striker, insisted Europe was a wiser move and Fulham boss Marco Silva snapped him up.
A weekly wage of around £7,500 on a five-year deal didn’t compare, but the chance to shine in England did… even if it has been no easy ride.
His salary pales in comparison to other top strikers in the league with reports suggesting Erling Haaland is earning an estimated £375,000 per week.
Yet Muniz, 22, has not regretted his move for a second and he will be eternally in Gaucho’s debt.
He told ESPN South America: “Thanks to him I made the right decision. At the time I was playing more at Flamengo due to injuries — but I knew as soon as our strikers were fit, I’d be on the bench.
“I told him all about the amount of money Al-Nasr was offering and was close to going ahead.
“But Renato said, ‘Are you kidding me? You have proposals from Europe and Dubai and want to go to Dubai?’.
“He said, ‘You don’t go to Europe from Dubai. The best road for your career is from Europe’.”
Life after his £8m Fulham move in 2021 started well, with five goals in a Championship-winning debut season.
Yet while Fulham went up, Muniz joined Middlesbrough in a loan deal that was a nightmare, as he made only nine starts.
It meant he returned last summer having to prove himself again.
By the start of February Muniz had just one goal in 18 appearances — then he really caught fire.
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The next seven weeks brought those eight goals, he is now rated in the £50m bracket and there is talk of a Brazil call for the Copa America.
Muniz added: “Renato was right. I’ll always be grateful for his advice.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
