How Jean Lucas went from being a highlight of Bahia to being the target of criticism from fans

One of the most expensive signings in Bahia’s history, midfielder Jean Lucas is experiencing a season of ups and downs wearing the tricolor shirt. After starting the year well, the player dropped in production and, in the last few games, entered into a collision course with part of the fans.

Jean Lucas’s phase at the club is far from what the athlete expected and is at odds with the good start he had at Tricolor. Bought for around R$27.1 million, he arrived surrounded by expectations after spells at Flamengo, Santos and French football. The player proved his importance on the field and was one of the Squadron’s highlights in the first half.

In March, Jean even celebrated the moment and accredited the goalscoring phase to the scheme set up by coach Rogério Ceni, which gave the midfielder freedom to appear more in the area.

The player, in fact, is enjoying his best scoring year in his career at Bahia, with nine goals. Tied with midfielder Cauly, he is only surpassed by Thaciano, who found the net 14 times, and by Everaldo, who scored 11. Jean also provided five assists to his teammates.

Regardless of the scenario, it didn’t take long for Jean Lucas to become a fundamental part of the midfield. So much so that he is in the top-5 of the players who took the field the most for the team in 2024. So far, the number 6 has participated in 58 games. He is behind Caio Alexandre (61 matches), Luciano Juba (60) and Cauly (59).

The good phase continued at the beginning of Série A and part of the Copa do Brasil. However, since the beginning of the second round of the Brasileirão, the midfielder saw his performance drop and became the target of criticism from some of the fans. In an interview with CT Evaristo de Macedo, the player himself acknowledged that he is not going through a good phase.

Among the explanations for the moment of decline, physical exhaustion may be among the reasons. Of the 58 games he played during the year, in 32 the midfielder was not replaced and remained on the field throughout the match, which represents 55% of the total. For comparison purposes, Everton Ribeiro played 18 full games in 2024, while Cauly and Caio Alexandre were not substituted in 16 duels each.

In terms of total minutes, Jean Lucas is also the player with the most time on the field among midfield athletes, with 4,650 minutes divided between the Campeonato Baiano, Copa do Nordeste, Copa do Brasil and Brasileirão.

After the 1-1 draw against Athletico-PR – when the midfielder left the Fonte Nova pitch amid boos -, Rogério Ceni was asked about Jean Lucas’s place in the starting team and explained the player’s maintenance.

“Our midfield is formed by Caio [Alexandre]who is a very technical player, Everton Ribeiro, who sets up the game, so Jean [Lucas] He’s the most physical player we have. If we add another player with low physical intensity, the midfield will be very weak in marking”, said the coach.

Betting on a game model that favors possession of the ball, Bahia has few players with marking characteristics in the squad. If you want to change the team against Cuiabá, Saturday, at Arena Pantanal, the immediate choice would be Acevedo, as Rezende is injured. Thaciano, who was cast in place of Jean Lucas, is also a doubt.