New Delhi: After spending the entire summer transfer window by making only a couple of additions to the squad, Manchester City paid the price in the following months. The sale of players like Julian Alvarez, Yan Couto, Joao Cancelo and Taylor Harwood-Bellis, combined with the departures of Aymeric Laporte and Eric Garcia in recent years, Manchester City have been short on defenders.
Their backline is an aging one with Josko Gvardiol the only one being under the age of 25 and Ruben Dias being the only one in his prime. Nathan Ake, John Stones and Manuel Akanji are all either in their 30s or approaching them making center back a potential problem area for Pep Guardiola’s team. The Catalan manager identified that and decided to rectify the same in this window by signing two of the best up and coming defensive prospects in the world.
Manchester City have agreed a deal to sign Uzbeki defender Abdukodir Khusanov from RC Lens and have just announced the signing of Brazilian prodigy Vitor Reis from Palmeiras. The 18-year-old became the most expensive defender to leave Brazil, when he signed for Manchester City for €35 million, surpassing the record set by PSG’s Lucas Beraldo a year prior.
Who is Vitor Reis, the 18-year-old inspired by PSG and Brazil star Marquinhos?
The 18-year-old defender is the latest product to come out of Palmeiras’ talent factory and becomes the fourth big name to depart from the Brazilian club in the span of a year. Palmeiras have already sold Endrick to Real Madrid and Luis Guilherme to West Ham this past summer and have agreed a deal to sell Estevao Willian to Chelsea at the end of this season, with Reis being the fourth big name, who has now joined Manchester City.
Starting off his career with former Brazilian International Robinho’s R10 academy, Reis joined Palmeiras at the age of 10 in 2016 and gradually moved up the ranks at the club. Following an impressive season with the club’s U17 side that won the triple crown in Brazil i.e. Copa do Brasil, the Campeonato Paulista and the Campeonato Brasileiro, he signed his first professional contract with the club in November 2022.
A center back by trade, he is also capable of playing as a right back and is a leader at the back, having already captained the Brazil and Palmeiras’ U17 side. After making a 15 min cameo during a 3-0 loss on his debut, Reis impressed Palmeiras boss so much that he was handed his first start the following week, in which he starred with a goal and a man of the match winning performance in a 2-0 win over Corinthians.
🚨🇧🇷🏴 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄! 𝐕𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐢𝐬 (𝟏𝟖) is the 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐅 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘
—> Dominant in the Duels
—> Great in Possession
—> Aerial Threat to the Opponent
—> Top Positioning
—> Fantastic Leadership Ability€40M … bargain.
— Rising Stars XI (@RisingStarXI) January 14, 2025
He is a quick and agile defender who is extremely vocal on the pitch given his leadership qualities. He has a great understanding an reading of the game, evidenced by rarely being caught out of possession and has a great range of passing ability. He made 22 appearances in his debut campaign for Palmeiras, completed almost 90% of his passes and was never dispossessed in that time, showcasing his skill on the ball.
He has been compared to PSG and Brazil captain Marquinhos, often being dubbed as the ‘new Marquinhos’ by peers. He has said that he’s modelled his game after the PSG defender and was inspired by his attitude both on and off the pitch. He’s even cited Brazil great and former Chelsea center back Thiago Silva as an inspiration, and his passing ability and leadership qualities surely mirrors those two legendary center backs.
Will he break into the Manchester City lineup?
Who is Vitor Reis and how is he going to help Man City ?
Everything you need to know about him👇🏼
A thread 🧵(Analysis) pic.twitter.com/GLJBeFXS0E
— 🧢 🇷🇼 (@BMNCTY) January 15, 2025
Following his big money move to England, fans and pundits alike would be eager to watch the defender line up for Pep Guardiola’s side. While Reis is definitely a star for the future at this point, he can line up for City this season as well though he might be made to wait for his chances. Pep Guardiola is a manager who likes to take his time before breeding young players into his side and that might be the case with Reis as well.
However, the biggest sign of encouragement for Reis to become a part of Manchester City’s first team this season would be the finalization of the deal. The deal to bring Reis to England was initially said to be one where City loan him back to Palmeiras for this season before getting him in the summer but Pep wanted the player at the club in this window, indicating that he’ll be a part of his plans for the rest of the campaign.
With City’s defense aging and the club often being exposed given the lack of Rodri in front of the defense, their is space for Reis to make a center back spot his own. Given that he is able to play as a right back as well, he can invert from the right into the defense Pep likes to do, opening up another spot for the defender. The space is there for Reis to break into the Manchester City team, he just has to be patient and take his chances whenever they arise.
Palmeiras’ 18-year-old center back prodigy Vitor Reis has just complete his big money move to Manchester City, making him the most expensive defender to leave Brazil. Dive in to find out more about Man City’s new signing. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
