Palmeiras executive sends crucial Vitor Reis advice to Brazil boss Carlo Ancelotti | OneFootball

Manchester City continue to monitor the progress of Brazilian defender Vitor Reis as the 19-year-old has received his strongest endorsement yet.

Reis was brought to the Etihad Stadium in the January window for £29 million from boyhood club Palmeiras at just 18 years of age – a promising future prospect for the defensive roster of Manchester City in a very difficult campaign for the club to navigate.

The Brazilian teenager found minutes hard to come by in his first six months in England, appearing four times for the Blues last season, including the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States – managing just 226 minutes across the four games.

Senior minutes are essential for a young player’s development but given City and Pep Guardiola’s star-studded squad, first-team action for Reis was not feasible last season and the club thereby sent the young centre-half to sister club Girona on loan for the 2025-26 campaign to gain experience and grow.

Speaking on a podcast, academy director of Reis’ former club Palmeiras, João Paulo Sampaio, extolled the virtues of the talented defender, giving Reis his plaudits and even projecting him for a long future with the Brazil National Team.

“He (Reis) will be Brazil’s centre-back for the next three or four World Cups,” Sampaio said in an interview with ESPN Brasil, as translated and relayed by Sport Witness.

“This kid is very different. Technically, physically, mentally, as a leader – he is one of the best in the Spanish league in terms of numbers.”

Sampaio worked directly with Reis during his time at Palmeiras’ academy and believes the youngster has the potential to play at the very highest level. The director described him as a rare talent having a brilliant skillset to become a top central defender, as he possesses technical strength, physical power, mentality and leadership.

Reis has stood out from the crowd since arriving in the La Liga this season. The Brazilian has more minutes under his belt than any other U20 player in the division across the 11 matches in which he has featured, ahead of big names like Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono.

In this age bracket, the former Palmeiras starlet leads in a number of metrics in the Spanish top flight; he tops the charts in interceptions (nine), accurate long balls (24) and minutes played (888). He also ranks third for tackles (12).

It is no overstatement that Reis is a special talent with the potential to reach the very top for both club and country – but it remains to be seen if he can translate this expectation to reality and become part of the fixtures and fittings at Manchester City following his spell with Girona.

Manchester City will conduct a standard review of Reis’ loan spell in Spain in January and officials at the Etihad Stadium will no doubt have been left delighted with how well Reis has fared so far, with little talk at present of a potential re-call.