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.
"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"
Lucas Andrade
It was here Vitor caught the attention of Palmeiras scouts, though he would initially only remain on their radar and thoughts as he returned to his hometown. After a few months, a Palmeiras scout travelled to Sao Jose dos Campos to watch Vitor train for a week at the R10 Academy. After that, Palmeiras decided to invite Vitor to join the club.
Aged 11, Vitor wrote a poignant note that his family decided to keep and return to him in future years.
It read:
03/14/2017
“Letter from Vitor de Oliveira Nunes dos Reis.
Who am I?
“I really like animals, I like soccer, my dream is to be a soccer player and live in Canada, get married and have three children. I don't like fake people and lies, I like having friends, the internet, Julio Cocielo's YouTube channel, Igão.
“Soccer teams, Barcelona, PSG, Manchester City, I want the world to be a better place, I don't have any more dreams, I like nature, and I think I'm very handsome and I really like going to church.”
The day after he’d written this letter, City were beat 3-1 by Monaco to exit the Champions League! And Pep Guardiola was yet to win any silverware with the Club.
As Vitor's career at Palmeiras began, so did the arduous daily journeys with his father as they drove the 220 kilometre round trip to the Sao Paolo facility and then back home, whilst doing his homework in the back seat,!
With his calmness, personality, and physicality, he quickly began to impress and steadily progressed within the youth ranks of the Brazilian Serie A giants before signing his first professional contract aged 16.
Highly regarded by the club’s youth coaches, he earned the nickname ‘ET’ – a talent considered to be out of this world.
He was soon called up for the Brazilian national youth team for the first time, where he became the captain, and was soon commanding the attention of the wider football world. He was selected among the 60 most promising young players in the world by The Guardian newspaper in England, and at the age of 18, he was promoted to the senior team of Palmeiras, where he made a victorious debut in the ‘ultimo classico’ against Corinthians and even scored one of the goals in what was a dream start to his professional career.
From there, he started several more games, with his maturity and confidence shining through despite his young age, playing 22 times all told for his boyhood club, including two matches in the Copa Libertadores.
His performances also earned him national recognition as he was named in the Troffer Mesa Redonda Team of the Year for all Brazilian football across 2024 – quite an accolade for a player at the start of his career.
A right-footed centre-back who can play at right-back as well, Reis quickly emerged as one of the most promising young defenders in Brazilian football.
Then, in January 2025, City – one of the three teams he dreamed of playing for as an 11-year-old, made his dream come true by agreeing a deal until 2029 with Palmeiras and Vitor, who commented: “I’m excited to join Manchester City, one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Three of Vitor’s talented Palmeiras academy team-mates have also now moved to Europe, with Endrick (now at Real Madrid), Luis Guilherme (West Ham United) and Estevao Willian (set to join Chelsea on 1 July).
Vitor continued: “Everyone has seen the amazing achievements at City in recent seasons, and I want to make my mark as we seek more trophies. Working with Pep Guardiola is something every young player wants to do, and I know he can help me to develop into the best player I can be.
“City also have a lot of experience of working with Brazilian footballers and joining the likes of Ederson and Savinho in the squad will be a big help to me.”
It will be fascinating to watch Vitor’s star ascend…
Feature: David Clayton (with thanks to Vitor Reis' family)
Built with Shorthand