West Ham United have enjoyed considerable success in promoting talented prospects to the first-team over recent seasons, notably cashing in on Declan Rice for £105m last summer after the England international's central role in the success under David Moyes.
While there were fears that Rice's sale would spark a decline, astute investment throughout the summer has left the club fighting for continental qualification through the Premier League once again, also topping their Europa League group.
Moyes and the Hammers board will be eager to bring through the academy's next big thing and while there are multiple exciting players, centre-back Luizao could be approaching a state of readiness ahead of a senior debut on English shores.
Luizao's style of play
West Ham signed Luizao from Brazilian outfit Sao Paulo back in December 2022, and while he has long been considered a talented prospect, Moyes and the club's development staff deemed his progress was suited within the U21 set-up in the short-term.
This season, the 21-year-old has scored twice from 12 outings in the Premier League 2, and while The Athletic's Roshane Thomas was of the opinion that he doesn't "think Luizao is ready" for senior action back in September, one defeat during the action thus far speaks of his innate ability as a top-class defender within the first-team.
He also played a prominent role as the development squad reached the last 16 in the EFL Trophy, keeping two clean sheets from four starts, averaging and coming out on top in 71% of his contested ground duels, as per Sofascore.
Such metrics corroborate the observations of one West Ham youth expert that he has "dominated" at the base of the U21s so far.
To put that in perspective, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has won 67% of his ground duels in the Premier League this season.
Described as "super confident” by Brazilian journalist Jorge Nicola in the past, Luizao must now transfer this conviction onto the major stage, providing Moyes with what could be an invaluable extra option in the rearguard.
A replacement for Nayef Aguerd
Left-footed and capable of playing at left-back, Luizao could be the perfect in-house heir to Nayef Aguerd, who joined from Ligue 1 club Rennes for around £30m back in 2022.
While the 27-year-old has completed 52 appearances for the east London side and was instrumental in last year's Conference League triumph, club insider Claret & Hugh suggested back in October that Moyes has been seeking replacements for the Moroccan star, whose poor passing and lack of defensive awareness makes for a poor fit in the Scotsman's system.
Blocking
Aerial duels
Long passing
Passing
Clearances
Concentration
Source: WhoScored
Indeed, as per FBref, Aguerd ranks among the bottom 17% of centre-backs across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for pass completion and the bottom 29% for both tackles and interceptions per 90, highlighting deficiencies that certainly don't secure his spot in the side.
With Luizao impressing this season and pushing for his senior debut at West Ham, he could be the perfect solution to Moyes' defensive quandary, saving millions in the process.