"Rayan's talent has never been a secret. In 2023, the forward became - at 16 years and 169 days - the youngest player to feature for Vasco da Gama in the 21st century, surpassing Chelsea's Andrey Santos. But it was only last season that he really broke through. "He belongs in the same bracket as boys like Estevao and Endrick," Gustavo Almeida, one of his earliest mentors at Vasco, tells BBC Sport. "He's always gone toe-to-toe with those players. I even expected it to click"
"Write this name down, Vasco fans: Rayan, 11, scored 115 goals in 2017 and is one of the club's biggest prospects. That statement was posted on social media in January 2018 by the Brazilian sports outlet Globo Esporte. It has since gone viral. That 11-year-old kid has lived up to his promise. And now, he is coming to the Premier League, Bournemouth's new 24.7m replacement for Antoine Semenyo. Brought in after Semenyo's departure for Manchester City, the new arrival is their second-most expensive buy, behind"
Rayan scored 115 goals at age 11 and rose through Vasco da Gama's ranks to become their youngest 21st-century debutant at 16 years and 169 days. The 19-year-old completed a £24.7m move to Bournemouth as the club's replacement for Antoine Semenyo and their second-most expensive signing behind Evanilson. Last season he scored 14 goals from 92 shots across 34 league games and earned a fan chant celebrating his goalscoring. Early mentor Gustavo Almeida compared him to Estevao and Endrick and praised his finishing with both feet, headers and mid-range strikes.
Read at www.bbc.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]