No country’s young stars quite set the pulses racing like when a new wave of talent emerges out of Brazil.
The Samba boys of the future are the talk of scouts across the globe, and more and more clubs are setting up operations in South America to snap up the hidden gems.
Vinicius Junior, who led Real Madrid to two Champions League titles before he turned 24, was poached from Flamengo for £38million just days after he had made his professional debut, while Endrick, who scored Brazil’s winner at Wembley in March, followed his compatriot to the Bernabeu from Palmeiras for an eye-watering £57m in the summer.
There is huge excitement already in west London about Estevao, a 17-year-old from Palmeiras who will join Chelsea for £29m next summer and already has three caps for his country.
There’s a reason that the big clubs act so fast: prices are skyrocketing across Europe – especially when a Premier League club registers their interest – and it is now imperative to cut out the middleman and sign directly from source in Brazil.
So with the January transfer window now just weeks away, these are the 20 young Brazilians your club should be pursuing to get the new year bargains before the rest of the world catches on.
Tevis Gabriel
Age: 18
Club: Cruzeiro
Position: Forward
Tevis has so far played only 25 minutes with the senior team at Cruzeiro, but his numbers on the Under-20 team are impressive, scoring 22 goals and providing 15 assists in 2024.
In 2021, he failed a trial at the Minas Gerais club and went back to Pernambuco, his home state, to play for Retro. One year later, Cruzeiro bought 60 per cent of his rights and offered him a contract until 2028.
Possible landing spots: Fulham, Southampton
Breno Bidon
Age: 19
Club: Corinthians
Position: Central midfielder
Bidon is in his first year as a professional and already has an important role in the Corinthians squad, having played 39 games this year, scoring one goal and providing two assists.
He won’t come cheap, though – even at this early stage. Under contract until the end of 2028, his release clause for overseas transfers is around £85m.
Internally, the club that produced the likes of Willian, Deco and Paris Saint-Germain centre back Marquinhos sees Bidon as one of the best talents to come out of their academy in recent years.
Possible landing spots: Newcastle, Wolves, Aston Villa
Souza
Age: 18
Club: Santos
Position: Left back
In a position where Brazilian football has struggled after being set for decades with Marcelo and Roberto Carlos, Souza can be the solution.
The 18-year-old has played in only seven games this season, the first that Pele’s club have played in the second division of Brazilian football in their 112-year history.
They have already secured their place back in the elite and now one of their top priorities is to seal a new deal for Souza, who is ready to be in the starting line-up next season.
He was crowned South American champion with the Under-17 Brazilian squad last year and his agent is Giuliano Bertolucci, whose stable includes Bruno Guimaraes, Gabriel Magalhaes and former Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz.
Possible landing spots: Chelsea, Liverpool
William Gomes
Age: 18
Club: Sao Paulo
Position: Attacking midfielder/winger
William made his professional debut last season and scored two goals in his first 12 top-flight games.
He has played for the Under-15 and Under-17 Brazilian squad, and, after renewing his contract, it will now take around £100m to get him out of his homeland.
Former PSG and Tottenham forward Lucas Moura has been one of the key figures into advising William for the future of his career, as the youngster sees him as an example to follow, having left Sao Paulo himself in 2012 to join PSG for £38m.
Possible landing spots: Tottenham, Arsenal, Brighton
Alisson Santana
Age: 19
Club: Atletico Mineiro
Position: Attacking midfielder
Alisson made his professional debut in 2023 and is his club’s youngest ever starter in the Copa Libertadores – the South American Champions League – helping them reach the final against Botafogo at the end of November.
He was given his senior debut by Luiz Felipe Scolari, and has been a key man for the former Chelsea manager’s replacement Gabriel Milito, who left Argentina for La Liga in 2003 for around £3m.
Alisson, Milito’s prodigy, will command a significantly higher fee – around £50m.
Possible landing spots: Everton, Arsenal, Fulham, Newcastle
Mycael
Age: 20
Club: Atletico Paranaense
Position: Goalkeeper
Ederson and Alisson have Brazil’s No 1 shirt locked down for years to come but when their time passes, Mycael is the man being lined up to replace them.
He put in a man of the match performance in the final as Brazil won last year’s Under-23 South American championship, and Mycael won his first senior call-up at 18, and while his debut has yet to arrive, he will be one to keep an eye on.
Possible landing spots: Manchester City
Pablo Maia
Age: 22
Club: Sao Paulo
Position: Central midfielder
One of the more experienced names on this list, Maia has racked up 100 league appearances for Sao Paulo already, and made his Brazil debut at Wembley in March.
The one thing that will delay his arrival at a higher level is the serious thigh injury he suffered in May, but he will be back on the pitch at the start of next year.
Possible landing spots: Arsenal, Fulham, West Ham
Kaua Elias
Age: 18
Club: Fluminense
Position: Forward
Elias has been causing a stir and has already played in 38 matches, scoring seven goals with two assists in his first full season as a professional.
Elias got his break with a trial at Fluminense and his grandfather – who raised him and incentivised him to score goals by paying him the equivalent of £3.50 per strike, before it all got too expensive – only allowed him to chase his career after hearing a ‘divine voice’ in a dream.
The reality is that Elias is now worth around £70m, and has made clear his desire to play in the Premier League or La Liga – telling of how he always watches Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Real Madrid and Barcelona.
Possible landing spots: Brighton, Chelsea, Man Utd
John Kennedy
Age: 22
Club: Fluminense
Position: Striker
John Kennedy scored the goal that handed Fluminense the 2023 Copa Libertadores title, but he has not found his groove this year. His team-mate and fellow prodigious talent Elias has taken his spot in the team and it has delayed his progression.
It had been expected that he would already have left the club by now, but 2025 should be the year for the man with the name of a former president.
Possible landing spots: Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Leicester
Riquelme Felipe
Age: 17
Club: Fluminense
Position: Attacking midfielder
Another Fluminense product, Riquelme has yet to make his professional debut but is already locked down to a contract until 2028 with a £41.8m release clause.
At youth level, he smashed 18 goals in 35 games at Under-17 and-Under 20 levels for his club and took home the Under-17 title for Fluminense. It’s clear he has now outgrown the youth levels.
Possible landing spots: Crystal Palace, West Ham
Gabriel Carvalho
Age: 17
Club: Internacional
Position: Midfielder
The youngest player to represent Internacional this century, beating Alexandre Pato’s record, 17-year-old Carvalho turned professional this season and is already a big name.
At Inter, they believe they have a hugely valuable asset on their hands and that he can surpass their record sale – the £25m deal that sent Oscar to Chelsea in 2012. Carvalho could well double that.
Possible landing spots: Arsenal
Isaque
Age: 17
Club: Fluminense
Position: Midfielder
Another Fluminense talent – the locals have noticed too, and have dubbed the cohort ‘Esquadrilha 07’ to signify the best players born in 2007 at the club, who were the backbone of their national youth title this month.
Known for his passing and goalscoring, Isaque’s price is already approaching £40m after he broke into the Brazil Under-20 squad.
Possible landing spots: Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle
Ricardo Mathias
Age: 18
Club: Internacional
Position: Forward
There’s a theme running through this list, and while Premier League clubs might want to get the jump on young talents, the Brazilian clubs have wised up too, and quickly moved to tie down a lot of their players to long contracts with expensive release clauses.
Ricardo Mathias fits that category too, recently signing a four-year deal that will require £54m to get him out of.
In his first professional season this year, Mathias played five games for Internacional and scored once. He is also part of the Under-20 national team and announced himself by scoring four times in a friendly against Rio-based club side Boavista.
Possible landing spots: Crystal Palace, Brentford, Bournemouth
Luighi
Age: 18
Club: Palmeiras
Position: Forward
Meet the fourth member of Palmeiras’ feted ‘one in a billion generation’, a group of ultra-talented players expected to bring in a huge windfall for the club.
So far, Endrick has obliged, Luis Guilherme added £25m from West Ham to the pile and Estevao will bring in more money when he joins Chelsea next summer.
Luighi is a 6ft striker who has won seven trophies in Palmeiras’ youth system has not yet made the impact of his team-mates.
He will need more time at Palmeiras before he is ready to leap across to Europe, with none of the offers they have received so far meeting the club’s valuation.
Possible landing spots: Southampton, West Ham, Everton
Vitor Reis
Age: 18
Club: Palmeiras
Position: Centre back
The best Under-21 defender in South America, according to the respected CIES Football Observatory, and likely available for just £25m.
Reis is not quite first-choice yet but has played 18 games for the senior team and even scored twice from centre back.
It’s his first season as a professional and the Sao Paulo club hopes to keep the youngster at least until the Club World Cup in 2025, but Reis envisions a move to Europe as he dreams of playing in the Champions League.
Possible landing spots: Arsenal, Real Madrid, Chelsea
Wesley Franca
Age: 21
Club: Flamengo
Position: Right back
It’s unlikely that Wesley will still be at Flamengo for the 2025 season. The full back has been approached by a number of clubs and Flamengo turned down a £16m bid from Italy’s Atalanta.
The player was eager to make the move and became upset by how things were handled.
Now, the 21-year-old is a Copa do Brasil champion with the club and has found a new groove under the command of Filipe Luis.
He is a fast player that provides good support for the attack on the right side of the pitch.
Possible landing spots: Bournemouth, Brighton, Tottenham
Lorran
Age: 18
Club: Flamengo
Position: Attacking midfielder
The 18-year-old left-footer broke through at Flamengo last year, and became their youngest goalscorer at 16.
Despite a few ups and downs in form has already renewed his contract with the Brazilian giant until 2029. Manchester United have already been linked, but like other players on the list, the release clause is a hefty one, around £85m – a figure that United are still regretting spending on a different Brazilian, Antony.
Lorran also made the headlines off the pitch by criticising the choice of Rodri over Vinicius Junior for the Ballon d’Or.
Possible landing spots: Man Utd, Tottenham, Newcastle
Nathan Fernandes
Age: 19
Club: Gremio
Position: Forward
Fernandes is already playing for the senior squad at Gremio and made a good impression in the beginning of this season, but has been moved back to the bench behind former Barcelona and Middlesbrough striker Martin Braithwaite.
The lack of regular game time means it won’t be long before Fernandes is heading for the exit. Ajax tried to sign him three years ago before he had even made his senior debut, but the Dutch giants would likely bow out early in any bidding war with a Premier League club.
Possible landing spots: Southampton, Ipswich, Everton
Matheus Nascimento
Age: 20
Club: Botafogo
Position: Forward
Nascimento was considered the next big thing for Botafogo in recent seasons, but things have not gone his way in 2024.
After missing lengthy time with a thigh injury and relegated to an infrequently used substitute, Nascimento has been cast aside and is playing for Botafogo’s Under-20s.
He should feel more at home here, having scored more than 150 goals in youth football for Botafogo, but just 11 professionally since 2020.
His quick rise to stardom has put him in a tough spot, not yet trusted to get enough minutes to learn, and not enough good offers to leave the club.
Possible landing spots: Nottingham Forest
Rayan
Age: 18
Club: Vasco da Gama
Position: Striker
The last name on our list almost didn’t make it, with Lyon very close to signing him before they hit huge financial troubles and were handed a provisional relegation if they cannot correct their balance sheets by the end of this season.
Lyon had offered £11.7m, which would also have covered a debt held by John Textor, who owns both clubs and also – for now – a significant stake in Crystal Palace.
Having been with Vasco since he was six, Rayan may have to wait a little longer to get his big move, having alerted Barcelona to his talents two years ago when he scored 29 goals in 34 games for his club’s Under-17 side, and also firing seven in 13 at that level internationally.
Possible landing spots: Wolves, Everton, Brentford
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