Vitor Reis has only 201 minutes of football for Man City this season, but the 20-year-old says Carlo Ancelotti’s faith in him has made all the difference as he settles into what he calls a “new era” for Brazil.
The centre-back spoke at a press conference in Singapore on Wednesday, where Brazil are based for friendlies against Japan on Saturday and Singapore on 17 November. Ancelotti has kept calling up young players who are short of minutes at their clubs, and Vitor Reis is one of them, along with his City team-mate Allan.
Rather than complain about his situation at the Etihad, he talked up what he is learning there.
What did Vitor Reis say about his lack of minutes?
He did not hide from it. “We don’t get many minutes at our clubs, but we are at big teams and, in training, there are players who help us improve every day. When the opportunity comes, we will try to grab it,” he said.
He was just as clear about what the call-up means to him: “It’s very important to have Ancelotti’s trust, bringing us in to get to know us better. That’s why we have to work hard, so that when the opportunity comes, here or at the club, we are ready.”
How much has he played for City?
Four games in all. Two of them were full matches in the Carabao Cup, where he scored his first City goal against Brighton, plus 19 minutes in the Champions League and one Premier League appearance.
It is a familiar story. City signed him in January 2025 for more than R$230m, and he managed just four games and 226 minutes in that first half-season. A loan to Girona followed, and there he played 38 times and racked up 3,287 minutes, roughly 16 times what he has had so far this season.
Learning from Marquinhos and Gabriel
Vitor Reis made it clear he is soaking up everything he can from the senior defenders around him. Gabriel Magalhães is in this squad, and in the last international window he trained alongside Marquinhos, the player he has idolised since he was a boy.
“Gabriel does a phenomenal job at his club and here. Last time I played with Marquinhos, who has been my idol since I was little. Working with people like that makes you grow, not just in football but as a person,” he said. He added that he feels the same in Manchester, where he trains every day with players who have played “many games, many competitions”.
He also joked that Juan, the former Brazil centre-back who is now the team’s technical manager, is “a monster”.
From Under-17 captain to the senior squad
This group has a lot of familiar faces for him. He captained Brazil to the South American Under-17 title in 2023 and wore the armband at the Under-17 World Cup, and some of those team-mates, including Rayan and Estêvão, are in camp with him now. “Not long ago we were playing in the Brazilian Under-17 championship, and now we are living this dream,” he said.
Vitor Reis needs more than training at City
His attitude is spot on, but 201 minutes is not enough for a 20-year-old who played nearly 3,300 minutes in Spain last season. He is currently behind several senior centre-backs under Enzo Maresca, and Barcelona have already been linked with a January move, as we reported when Flick put him on his January list.
Ancelotti clearly rates him. If City do too, the next couple of months need to bring real minutes, or another loan will start to look like the sensible move for everyone. His fellow call-up Allan has also been talking from camp, and revealed Haaland’s dressing-room teasing earlier this week.
