We take a closer look at a genuine talent for the very near future…
Last January, City brought a very special talent to the Club. Vitor de Oliveira Nunes dos Reis is regarded as an exceptional talent in Brazil – a defender who has all the attributes to get to the very top, very quickly.
The teenager won’t turn 20 until January of next year and he could feature in this summer’s FIFA Club World Cup where City are looking to defend the title we won in 2023.
Like Abdukodir Khusanov, who also arrived in the last transfer window, he is seen as part of an exciting future at City, as the foundations are laid for a team that will continue to challenge for the biggest and best prizes for many years to come.
With just 22 games under his belt at Palmeiras, the Brazil U17 defender was already catching the eye of scouts around the world – before City moved in to bring this elegant, versatile and physically powerful youngster to Manchester.
Back in January, Palmeiras' under-20 coach Lucas Andrade expressed his certainty that Reis has the brightest of futures.
"I believe he will have no trouble adapting to the City system because here in the youth teams he was always exposed to playing under risk, having to be involved in the build-up play while also defending efficiently, even in one-on-one situations,” said Andrade.
"City work with small squads, so he could gain minutes and be very useful in the season right from the start due to all the maturity and readiness he has to play."
So, where did his journey begin?
Vitor started his football career in earnest at the age of seven where he was a student at a football school called the R10 Academy in his home city, Sao Jose dos Campos in the Paraíba Valley, around 110km from São Paulo.
Like many young footballers who quickly catch the eye, he started out as a striker and became the top scorer in several local competitions in his city. In one of them, he scored more than 25 goals with his athleticism and speed often too much for his peers to deal with.
Impressing during his games at the Estádio ADC Parahyba, when Vitor was 10 years-old, he was invited to go on a field trip to the Palmeiras Academy Training Center to play a friendly match against Palmeiras.