Vitor Reis: Who is new Manchester City defender?
Rival fans used to mock Palmeiras’ academy, saying they had never won the Copa de Sao Paulo, Brazil’s top youth competition.
Those days are long gone.
Palmeiras has not only won the “Copinha”, as the tournament is affectionately called, twice (2022 and 2023), but has also become the hottest talent factory in Brazilian football.
The Sao Paulo-based giants have developed and sold stars like Chelsea over the past few years Estevo William (£29m), Real Madrid endrick (£28.5m), West Ham United Louis Guilherm (£25.5m), Nottingham Forest Danilo (£16m) and Kevin of Shakhtar Donetsk (£8m, all fees including add-ons).
They have both helped Palmeiras cement their status as the most successful Brazilian team of the past decade while generating huge amounts of revenue.
The next person to emerge from their prolific factory is Vitor Reis, who has Joined Manchester City for £29.6 million.
Palmeiras originally wanted the 19-year-old to stay until this summer’s Club World Cup, but City insisted on bringing him in immediately.
Manchester City’s incoming director of football, Ugo Viana, He played a key role in the deal, calling Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira, also Portuguese, to find out more about Reis. Also his good friend.
Despite making just 22 appearances for Palmeiras since his debut in June, City believe he is ready for the Premier League.
For Brazilians, this is no surprise.
He is described within the club as an “ET” – players they believe are otherworldly and far better than everyone else.
“Last year, the players who broke into the first team from ‘Copinha’ were Estevao and Vito Reis. But don’t ask me for those ETs this season, okay? Now we get normal ETs.” Palmeiras head academy director Joao Paulo Sampaio joked earlier this month when asked about what was next on the list.
Reis is so calm on the pitch that a local sports TV pundit said this week that he appeared to have “60 years of football experience”.
“I’m sure he will adapt to Manchester City’s system without any difficulty because in the youth team he was always faced with dangerous games and had to be involved in organizing attacks while also defending effectively, even in one-on-one matches. .” Palmeiras Under-20s coach Lucas Andrade told BBC Sport.
“City work with smaller teams so he can get playing time and be very useful from the start of the season as he has to be mature and ready to play.”
