West Ham’s latest signing Luis Guilherme has all the makings of a player who can go right to the very top, according to Brazilian experts.

Before he was linked with a move to West Ham, it’s fair to say that not many would have heard of Luis Guilherme. The Brazilian league doesn’t tend to make many headlines in England, but those in his home country know all about him.

Palmeiras are almost single-handedly bringing through the next generation of Brazilian talent. While Endrick is the one on everyone’s mind, ESPN’s Joao Castelo-Branco believes that he has everything it takes to be world-class. “I’d heard very highly of him before he arrived – he’s from obviously from a golden generation of the Palmeiras youth team – but I was really impressed meeting him how, despite such a young age, he’s very grounded, professional and focused,” he told WHUFC.com.

“He doesn’t seem fazed by the whole situation and he seems excited. Being part of the Brazil U20 set-up and this hyped Palmeiras youth team will have helped with that.”

“At the same time, he’s not over-confident and he’s speaking a lot about wanting to learn and he knows that he has to adapt. He’s confident in his abilities, but he’s not trying to go too fast and he seems like a really good kid.”

Understandably not everyone’s been fully convinced by the signing, but the Brazilian expert was keen to reassure the East London faithful that Guilherme not playing in Europe before isn’t that big of a deal. “It’s something we’re seeing more and more – Brazilian players coming straight from Brazil at such a young age,” Joao explained.

“They used to stop off at other clubs or be loaned out, but now the Premier League clubs have clocked on that they can go to South America and get young talent. The players are much more professional perhaps than the generation before, who would find it harder to adapt, but you can see he’s a clear example of a dedicated professional who knows what he has to go through.”

“He has a very good set-up with good people around him. He has his family coming with him and he looks like a really good buy.”