Léo Jabá

Leonardo Rodrigues Lima (born 2 August 1998), known as Léo Jabá, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a left winger for Greek club PAOK.

Léo Jabá
Léo Jabá in 2018
Personal information
Full name Leonardo Rodrigues Lima
Date of birth (1998-08-02) 2 August 1998
Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Winger / Striker
Club information
Current team
 PAOK
Number 98
Youth career
2009 São Paulo
2009–2016 Corinthians
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Corinthians 3 (0)
2017–2018 Akhmat Grozny 24 (3)
2018– PAOK 30 (3)
National team‡
2016–2017 Brazil U20 11 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 October 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 February 2017

Club career

Early career

Born on August 2, 1998 in the Brazilian city of São Paulo, Leo Jaba (full name Leonardo Rodrigues Lima) stands at 1.78 meters tall, capable of competing up front or in his preferred position on the left wing. Technically gifted, Jaba is at his best when taking on opponents in 1-on-1 situations, beating his markers with fantastic shows of skill. Jabá joined Corinthians when he was 11 years old, after a brief stint at rival São Paulo.[1]

Immediately from a young age, Jaba stood out with his qualities, impressing with the São Paulo and Corinthians youth-set up. The young forward makes life difficult for opposing players when in possession of the ball, able to turn on the gas, display silky moves and compete with a mature calmness. When Brazil played against Singapore at an under 15's tournament, Singaporean coach Nazir Nasir was taken aback by Jaba's performance, revealing that he has everything required to be a great footballer.

He was part of the 2016 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior and 2016 U20 Campeonato Brasileiro squads that ended up as runner up in both tournaments.[2]

Corinthians

Jabá made his unofficial professional debut in a friendly on 22 July 2015, as he entered in the second half of Corinthians' 1–0 victory against ABC at Natal.[3]

He made his official debut as a substitute during the second half of a 1–0 against Internacional on November 21.[4]

Akhmat Grozny
Léo Jabá

Having attracted plenty of interest from Europe, Jaba opted to join Akhmat Grozny of the Russian Premier League in summer 2017, costing the Chechnya club a grand total of €2.5 million. While not setting the world on fire, he did make an impression in Russia, netting three goals in 24 championship matches. In comparison to his time at Corinthians, his role changed slightly with Akhmat, gifted a license to roam and create goalscoring opportunities without worrying about defensive duties.

PAOK

On 20 June 2018, PAOK signed Jabá from Akhmat Grozny on a five-year deal. PAOK strengthened their attacking line, paying €5 million for the forward.[5]

On 15 September 2018, he scored his first goal of the 2018-19 Super League season as his teammate Diego Biseswar dummied for him to hit an unstoppable shot past Giorgos Strezos in a 3-1 away win against OFI.[6]

On 4 October 2018, the 20-year-old was the star of the show for PAOK, teeing up Aleksandar Prijović for his sixth-minute opening goal and then scoring twice after 11 and 17 minutes to put PAOK firmly in command, before assisted to Dimitris Pelkas in a 4-1 away emphatic win against BATE Borisov in Belarus in the UEFA Europa League group stage.[7] His performance earned him an award as most valuable football player of the second matchday of the Europa League Group stage, chosen ahead of Alfredo Morelos, Patrick Cutrone and Islam Slimani.[8] On 3 March 2019, he scored a crucial goal, despite his red card in the second half, sealing a 2-0 away win against rivals Panathinaikos in his club's effort to win the title undefeated. [9]

On 8 March 2019, he was reported to have attracted attention from teams such as Porto, Newcastle United and Anderlecht.[10] He finished the season with 39 appearances (7 goals, 11 assists) in all competitions. On November 2019, has fallen out of favour with head coach Abel Ferreira after a poor run of form in the beginning of 2019-20 season.He has struggled this time around, not contributing with any goals or assists in nine matches, and reports have indicated that the out-of-favour Brazilian could seek a transfer request in January. [11]

Career statistics
As of 20 October 2019
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Corinthians 2016 Série A 2000000020
2017 10000013[lower-alpha 1]1141
Total 300000131161
Akhmat Grozny 2017–18 Russian Premier League 24310––253
PAOK 2018–19 Superleague 2436292–397
2019–20 600030–90
Total 30362122131487
Career total 576721221318911

Notes
  1. Thirteen appearances in Campeonato Paulista

Honours
Corinthians
PAOK

References
  1. Staff (2015-08-04). "Sósia de Guerrero, Léo Jabá mostra origens e quer fazer história no Timão" (in Portuguese). esportes.terra.com.br. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  2. Staff (2016-09-22). "Corinthians promove Léo Jabá e mais três jogadores do sub-20; veja a lista" (in Portuguese). globoesporte.globo.com. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  3. Staff (2015-07-23). "Léo Jabá se torna o terceiro jogador mais jovem a vestir a camisa do Timão" (in Portuguese). corinthians.com.br. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  4. Staff (2016-11-21). "Com boa atuação nos minutos finais, Léo Jabá estreia em jogo oficial pelo Corinthians". meutimao.com.br. Retrieved 2016-11-21.
  5. ""Η Αχμάτ Γκρόζνι πούλησε τον Λέο Ζαμπά στον ΠΑΟΚ"". www.sport24.gr. 20 June 2018.
  6. "ΟΦΗ - ΠΑΟΚ 1-3". www.gazzetta.gr. 15 September 2018.
  7. "Μπάτε Μπορίσοφ - ΠΑΟΚ 1-4". www.gazzetta.gr. 4 October 2018.
  8. "MVP της αγωνιστικής ο Ζαμπά για την UEFA!". www.novasports.gr. 4 October 2018.
  9. "Με πράσινα «δώρα» πέρασε… αέρα (0-2)". www.to10.gr. 3 March 2019.
  10. "ΠΑΟΚ: Η μισή Ευρώπη στα πόδια του Λέο Ζαμπά!". www.to10.gr. 8 March 2019.
  11. "ΠΑΟΚ: Κάτι τρέχει με Λέο Ζαμπά". www.sport24.gr. 4 November 2019.
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