"Unforgettable" - Untold stories of Brazilian prospects who lived Man Utd dream

Agnaldo Pinto de Moraes Júnior was a wide-eyed teenager when he first ventured outside of Brazil.

The 17-year old was joined on his trip by four friends - but they were not a group of young lads on a typical jaunt to Magaluf or Ibiza.

Instead, Agnaldo and the Samba stars touched down in England and immersed themselves in life at arguably the world's biggest football club - Manchester United.

The first thing he remembers?

"The weather was a big shock!" Agnaldo jokes. "Everybody says, 'it's really cold', but I didn't know, you need to feel it first to understand.

"I came from 35 degrees to 2 or 3 degrees in England - I didn't feel my feet, I didn't feel anything in the first week!"

The difficulty acclimatising is not hard to understand.

After all, Agnaldo had traded the Copacabana for dreams of Carrington.

He grew up playing for Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro but left the Brazilian giants for the lure of Manchester United.

The pathway, a risky one, involved leaving behind the top flight powerhouse for Desportivo Brasil, a project and team just a few years old and playing in the fourth tier of the Sao Paulo state championship.

"I played for Flamengo first," he explains. 'Then the United scouts came, saw me in some games and gave me, not an offer, but a good project.

"The project meant I needed to move to Desportivo Brasil in Sao Paulo, then afterwards there was a chance to go to Manchester United."

Whilst Agnaldo was spotted, the same scouts were running the rule over talents across Brazil and recruiting them to Desportivo Brasil.

The academy, set up Traffic Group in 2005, aimed to develop the next generation of Brazilian talent at a multi-million pound training base 120km east of Sao Paolo, retaining hefty sell-on clauses when they moved on.

The Red Devils announced a link-up with the Brazilian club in November 2008, outlining their plan to exchange players and coaches to experience different styles, and went about talent spotting within South America.

Confidentiality agreements meant that, at the time, the identities of those amongst Desportivo Brasil's 100-plus players with agreements with Manchester United were not made public.

But several of those spotted by United scouts and honed in Brazil travelled to Carrington to train, as well as some spending time at FC Twente, who were used as a holding club until players were able to obtain an EU passport or work permit.

Agnaldo and Rafael Leao were amongst the first pair to head over.

They later returned alongside Gladestony, Bruno Gomes, Aguilar and Lucas Evangelista.

The group were pictured at Old Trafford, watching the Red Devils face Bolton in the Premier League from the directors' box, a few rows behind Fabio Capello.

Whilst that photo ensured the news they were training with the club was made public, details were scarce.

Tracked down to discuss their memories, they all share stories of an unforgettable few weeks in a different world.

"These are wonderful memories," says Lucas Evangelista.

"At the time I was between 16 and 17 years old and I was having the opportunity to be a part of one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"The structure was spectacular, their treatment was incredible, which made me feel comfortable immediately. It was something that impressed me a lot.

"It was a dream we were living. All of us who were part of this partnership were still very young, and having that unique opportunity was remarkable."

The teenagers were suddenly rubbing shoulders with the stars.

In the case of Leao, the first to head over, an encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo remains etched in his memory.

"I remember it was such an amazing memory in my life," Leao says.

"We had lunch at the club after training, I got my food and then Cristiano Ronaldo arrived at my table.

"He came over, he said 'how are you? What's your name? Where are you from?', in Portuguese, of course.

"'Here is the new Brazilian!', because Rafael and Fabio had spoken about me. 'I love Brazilians!', he said.

"He told me, 'if you need any help, you can tell me, I wish you all the best here in Manchester'. It was such an amazing memory in my life.

"I just remember being around these great players - Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo, Paul Scholes, Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra. It was incredible."

Whilst Ronaldo looked to help Leao settle, the Da Silva twins, Rafael and Fabio, went a step further and quite literally threw open their doors and rolled out the red carpet.

"When I first came to England at 18 years old, I stayed alone, because only I had a Portuguese passport," Leao explains.

"So I stayed in England for one season at first, then Manchester said to me, you will go and stay with an English family just for learning things about England, the language, how the people are.

"I said, 'OK', but I told Rafael and Fabio about it and they said, 'no! We will go to speak to the club, you will come and stay with us'.

"It was fantastic for me, because we all spoke Portuguese, ate Brazilian food. They really took care of me, it was a big support they gave to me. It was great.

"I didn't know anything about England, so they helped me a lot to adapt, and they are just an amazing family."

Whilst Leao, holding a Portuguese passport, was the only player able to stay after the first trip, Agnaldo soon returned with the rest of the contingent.

"When I came back with everybody together, it was amazing," Agnaldo says. "At the time I didn't speak very good English, I understood almost nothing, so to have the five Brazilians together was great.

"Being together was very easy for me, for everybody to speak to each other, and just to share the experience together.

"We were all together, enjoying every day in training, enjoying being around such a big club and enjoying when we got to go and watch the first-team games."

Bruno Gomes arrived at United as the youngest member of the group, but also hot property.

Having scored more than 130 goals in three seasons at youth level, he was linked to a host of the world's biggest clubs.

"Pressure always exists in the football environment. I always saw it as something natural," he reflects.

"Today, with more maturity, I am aware of that. But at the time I was very young.

"I didn't have the dimension of it, even with impressive numbers. My goals were to have fun and enjoy the experience."

Despite blocking out the pressure, heading to Manchester United was daunting as a teenager.

"Everyone was afraid," he admits. "After all we were training at Manchester United, one of the biggest football clubs.

"I was the youngest in the group, but we had a lot of fun during that time. I don't have one moment that marked me the most. The whole experience was unforgettable."

It was reported in the summer of 2013 that Gomes in particular had impressed Sir Alex Ferguson.

There were suggestions he was set to be taken on United's pre-season tour and signed when he hit his 18th birthday, only for Ferguson's sudden retirement to see the deal collapse.

"I never heard of this story," Gomes says. "If, in fact, it was true, I feel honoured.

"The only information I had at that time was that Manchester had the priority for any proposals. At the time, other clubs made some offers to Desportivo Brasil, and United didn't want to cover the cost.

"I don't know the reason. Maybe for my age, or even Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement. Who knows?"

Whilst Gomes was said to have left his mark on the training pitch, life in England was a different world both on and off the field for all those involved.

"High tempo!" Agnaldo says when asked about English football. "For me it was a big difference, a big change.

"At that time in Brazil we didn't have a lot of tempo. Of course, we have a lot of technique but not tempo with the ball.

"For me, it was good and I learnt a lot. I enjoyed it. I played a couple of games, I scored against Gary Neville's team (Salford) for the reserves and that was amazing. It helped me a lot in every way and I really enjoyed it."

Unlike Gomes, Leao, a few years older, did land a permanent contract at United, playing in the same youth team as the likes of Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingard and Ravel Morrison.

"Outside of the pitch I made a lot of friends," he recalls. "Jesse Lingard, Ravel Morrison, Paul Pogba, Michael Keane, Will Keane, Larnell Cole. They helped me a lot.

"At the beginning it was difficult for me to adapt to play in England. From the first moment, I felt it was really difficult.

"But after I made some friends like Pogba, Rafael, things started to improve. I learnt a lot from them on and off the pitch.

"I remember with the youth team, we had a fantastic team. I think it was the best team I have ever played in. Good players, fantastic players, and it was a pleasure to be with them.

"I had two fantastic coaches, they helped me a lot. Paul McGuinness and Warren Joyce. They were fantastic."

Leao also found huge help from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, just starting his coaching journey.

"Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, he helped a lot of us, because when we came from Brazil to England, the football is completely different," he explains.

"The tactics, the system, it was very, very different. Ole Gunnar helped us a lot on the training ground.

"He said, 'hey, you need to concentrate on football and your body language, you need to improve'. I have good memories about him.

"I remember having a lot of difficult times playing the strong football in England. It's very different for me, because here in Brazil it's different.

"When I came, Ole said, 'you need to play strong, you need to change your mentality, your game, the way you play'.Working under him was a really good experience."

Agnaldo also found an ally in Solskjaer.

By the time he concluded his stint at United, Solskjaer had found his way to Molde to begin his managerial career and took the Brazilian with him.

"The same guy who brought me from Brazil to Man United knew Ole Gunnar and Ole knew me from Man United," he explains.