1. He left home at the age of eleven
Luis Guilherme was born in the port city of Aracaju, the capital of the state of Sergipe, on Brazil’s east coast, on 9 February 2006. There, he played junior football for a number of clubs before his promise saw him scouted and recruited by Palmeiras, so he moved 1,500 miles south to join the São Paulo-based club at the age of eleven in 2017.
2. He has already won trophies with club and country
In January 2022, under the guidance of Palmeiras’s respected youth co-ordinator João Paulo Sampaio, Luis Guilherme starred alongside striker Endrick as the club won the prestigious São Paulo Junior Football Cup, defeating São Paulo and Santos in the semi-finals and final respectively. That April, he wore the No10 shirt and scored three goals for Brazil’s Under-17s as they beat Mexico, England and Argentina to win the FIFA-sanctioned Montaigu Tournament in France. Then, in June of the same year, he signed his first professional contract with Palmeiras, aged just 16 years and four months, before completing an Under-17 quadruple of São Paulo state championship, Brazilian championship, Brazilian Cup and Brazilian Super Cup.
3. He is a South American champion
Luis Guilherme featured five times as Brazil won the South American Under-20 Championship in Colombia in January/February 2023. The winger registered an assist in the opening 3-0 group-stage win over Peru, featured as a substitute in a 3-1 victory over Argentina and started a 2-1 win over Paraguay. In the final stage, three days after his 17th birthday, he started the winner-takes-all fixture against Uruguay, which Brazil won 2-0 to leapfrog their opponents and win the trophy.
4. He made his Palmeiras debut at 17
Luis Guilherme made his senior first-team debut for Palmeiras in a 4-2 home win over Tombense in the Brazilian Cup third round on 13 April 2023, aged 17 years and two months. By the end of the 2023 season, he had made 27 appearances and debuted in and won Brazil’s Série A and featured in the Copa Libertadores.
5. His first senior goal was a last-minute winner!
Luis Guilherme scored his first senior goal with a 95th-minute winner in Palmeiras’ 3-2 victory away at Independiente del Valle in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, on 24 April 2024. The come-from-behind win helped the Brazilian side top their group and reach the round of 16, where they have been drawn to face compatriots Botafogo over two legs.
6. He has been tipped for greatness
Luis Guilherme has been widely tipped as a potential future star, with the likes of The Guardian and ESPN naming him in their respected lists of promising players. The Guardian listed the winger alongside fellow Palmeiras youngsters Endrick and Vitor Reis in their ‘Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best young talents in world football’ shortlist in October last year, where journalist Thiago Rabelo wrote: 'Football is a simple sport for Luis Guilherme. A midfielder with refined technique, speed and excellent finishing, he is gaining more and more admirers for every day. Luis Guilherme has been at Palmeiras since 2017, when he was eleven years old, and is considered one of the next jewels in Brazil’s football crown, alongside Endrick. Some even believe he will have an even brighter future than his club teammate.' The following month, ESPN’s South American football expert Tim Vickery described the player as ‘a winger of huge potential, he picked up big-game experience this season and big things are expected in 2024’.
7. He has won a title in 2024
Luis Guilherme lifted the second senior trophy of his career as recently as April 2024, when a Palmeiras side coached by former Sporting Lisbon full-back Abel Ferreira defeated Santos 1-0 to win the São Paulo state championship. The teenager appeared six times in the tournament.
