Meet the 18-year-old full-back pushing for a spot at Santos | OneFootball

With Souza’s sale, Santos fans are already looking fondly at another left-back: Vinícius Lira. The 18-year-old player is one of the great gems of the club’s youth academy and is expected to get more opportunities this season.

Born on October 12, 2007, in São Paulo, the “Menino da Vila” joined Peixe in 2018. Since then, he has stood out in every category he played in, especially for his good positioning, speed, and strong support in attack. At 16 years old and 1.87m tall, he was already part of the U-20 squad, even serving as Souza’s backup.

In 2024, he won the U-17 Paulista Championship. Last year, he claimed the state trophy in the U-20 category. Throughout the last season, he played 40 matches for the youth teams, scoring five goals and providing five assists.

At the professional level, Vinícius Lira has played five games, three of them as a starter. The left-back made his first-team debut in 2025, in the Paulista Championship, on January 29, against São Bernardo. In the same year, he started in matches against São Paulo and Novorizontino.

From then on, however, he lost his spot among the professionals, as Souza and Escobar held the position. This year, however, the club’s board sold Souza to Tottenham, opening up space for Lira to move up.

Promising Year

The “Menino da Vila” started 2026 integrated with the squad that played in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, in São Carlos (SP). Lira, however, played only the opening match. Right after the game, he was called up by Juan Pablo Vojvoda to join the first team.

The left-back was only on the bench for the first Paulistão match, a 2-1 win over Novorizontino at Vila Belmiro. Afterwards, he came on in the final minutes of the 1-0 loss to Palmeiras and started in the 1-1 draw with Guarani, both away from home. Against Bugre, he contributed an assist for Barreal’s goal.

Now, the fans are calling for Vojvoda to keep the young promise among the starters against Corinthians this Thursday, in the fourth round of the Paulistão. The match kicks off at Vila Belmiro at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time).

Lira is under contract with Santos until August 31, 2028.

See also: All news from Gazeta Esportiva Gazeta Esportiva’s YouTube Channel Follow Gazeta Esportiva on Instagram

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.