'The comparison with Ruben Dias is inevitable'

After life-changing transfers such as these, it's easy to forget the obstacles players have had to overcome to get there.

And even though Vitor Reis doesn't come from a particularly humble background, Reis made his share of sacrifices.

"He used to come every day from his hometown of Sao Jose dos Campos to the youth training centre in Guarulhos [on the outskirts of Sao Paulo] to train from the under-11 to the under-15 levels," recalled Joao Paulo Sampaio, the man behind Palmeiras' academy revolution and one of the most sought-after executives in Brazilian football.

"So, every day, his parents would drive him 200 kilometres, never missing a single training [session]. When he left, it was already late, so he would do his school homework in the car to study in the morning and train again in the afternoon. He did that until moving to the club dormitory."

Reis understandably doesn't miss those days.

"The trickiest part was the return journey because I was tired and there was also more traffic due to the rush hour, you know? It was like that until I was 15," he told the club podcast.

But it helped shape the defender into a leader.

"Mentally, Vitor is a very stable player. For most of his time in youth football, he was captain, and in the professional team, he took on a leading role in a very short time," Palmeiras' under-20 coach Lucas Andrade told BBC Sport.

"I think the comparison with Ruben Dias is inevitable here, given the characteristics, the type of player, and also the abilities. We hope he follows the same path."