Introduced in 2007, the Best Newcomer award is handed out to the breakthrough young talent in Brazil’s Serie A.
It is an accolade that can pave the way to prestigious European clubs. So what has become of the 13 recipients so far?
2007 – Breno
Age at time of award: 17
Position: Centre Back
International apps: 0
Career path: São Paulo, Bayern Munich, FC. Nurnberg (loan), São Paulo, Vasco da Gama. Retired
Let’s start off with a bizarre story involving the winner of the 2007 Best Newcomer. Shortly after claiming the award, Breno earned a €12m move to Bayern Munich, where he was immediately integrated into the first-team squad.
But after struggling to secure a place in the starting XI at Bayern, Breno was loaned to FC Nurnberg and a serious knee injury sustained while there proved to be the start of the promising defender’s troubles.
In April 2012, Breno was handed a prison sentence due to an arson charge. He returned home to play for his first club, São Paulo, represented Vasco da Gama and retired in 2021.
2008 – Keirrison
Age at time of award: 19
Position: Striker
International apps: 0
Career path: Coritiba, Palmeiras, Barcelona, Benfica (loan), Fiorentina (loan), Santos (loan), Cruzeiro (loan), Coritiba, Londrina, Arouca, Coritiba FC, Londrina (loan), Coritiba, Londrina. Retired
After scoring goals on a frequent basis with Coritiba and then Palmeiras, Keirrison earned a dream move to the then-European champions Barcelona, managed by none other than Pep Guardiola himself.
Securing first-team football was always going to be a tough ask, though, with Lionel Messi, David Villa, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all at the club. Unfortunately, Keirrison was unable to make an impact during his numerous loan spells away from Camp Nou, too.
He failed to make a single appearance for Barcelona and, after a litany of loan moves, eventually left in 2014 to return to Coritiba, before joining Serie B side Londrina, though he has since left and retired in 2021.
2009 – Fernandinho
Age at time of award: 23
Position: Attacking-midfield
International apps: 0
Career path: Iraty, Daejeon Citizen (loan), Citizen AA (loan), Gremio Barueri, Sao Paulo, Al-Jazira, Atletico Mineiro (loan), Gremio, Hellas Verona (loan), Flamengo (loan), Chongqing Lifan, Retrô
Nope, not that one. Unlike the Manchester City enforcer, this Fernandinho was an attacking player and a pretty good one at that, scoring goals and providing assists for the unfashionable Grêmio Barueri club.
In hindsight, Fernandinho should have stayed put as big moves to São Paulo and then Al-Jazira failed to work out. After various loan spells and a stint at the Chinese Super league with Chongqing Lifan, he is now 39 years old and still going strong for Retrô in the Brazilian Serie C.
2010 – Bruno César
Age at time of award: 21
Position: Attacking-midfielder
International apps: 2
Career path: Santo Andre, Corinthians, Benfica, Al-Ahli, Palmeiras (loan), Estoril, Sporting CP, Vasco da Gama, Penafiel, XV de Piracicaba. Retired
An impressive debut season with Corinthians which yielded 14 goals in 31 games was enough to persuade Portuguese giants Benfica to shell out €6m to bring Bruno Cesar to Europe.
Cesar made a promising start to his career in Lisbon scoring 10 goals in 26 Primeira Liga games in his first season, but after slipping down the pecking order the following campaign, he headed to Saudi Arabia.
Now aged 36, he went back and forth between Portugal (Sporting and Penafiel) and Brazil (Vasco) before retiring in 2023.
2011 – Wellington Nem
Age at time of award: 19
Position: Winger
International apps: 3
Career path: Fluminense, Figueirense (loan), Shakhtar Donetsk, Sao Paulo (2017 loan), Fluminense (2019 loan), Fortaleza, Cruzeiro, Arouca, Vitória, Kisvarda FC, Becamex HCMC, Figueirense
An outstanding season on loan at Figueirense brought Wellington Nem to the attention of Shakhtar Donetsk, who have made a habit of hoovering up the best up and coming talent from Brazil over the past decade.
Nem remained contracted to the Ukrainian side until 2020, before becoming somewhat of a journeyman. He has since returned to boyhood club Figueirense, playing at the Brazilian Serie C.
2012 – Bernard
Age at time of award: 19
Position: Attacking-midfield
International apps: 14
Career path: Atlético Mineiro, Democrata-SL (loan), Shakhtar Donetsk, Everton
Everton’s promising signing was perennially linked to a host of Premier League clubs, notably Arsenal and Spurs, before completing his free transfer to Goodison Park in 2018.
His scintillating displays at Atletico Mineiro saw him make the move to Ukraine. There, Bernard emerged as a key player at Shakhtar during his three years with the club, without perhaps kicking on as much as was previously expected. His reputation was also tainted by his presence in the Brazil team humiliated 7-1 by Germany six years ago.
He has since defended Al-Sharjah and Panathinaikos before returning to Atlético Mineiro in 2024 – though he has recorded just 2 goals and 2 assists in 58 games during his second stint there.
2013 – Marcelo Cirino
Age at time of award: 21
Position: Striker
International apps: 0
Career path: Athletico Paranaense, Vitoria (loan), Flamengo, Internacional (loan), Al Nasr (loan), Ahtletico Paranaense, Chongqing Lifan, Bahia, Athletico Paranaense, Operário, PSS Sleman
Unlike virtually everyone else on this list, Marcelo’s ‘Best Newcomer’ award didn’t culminate in a move to Europe as he remained with Athletico Paranaense for a further season.
His big move was to Flamengo in 2015, but he ultimately became a flop. After a few loan spells, he returned to Athletico in 2018 and surprised everyone with strong showings, performing an insane solo run before setting up the winning goal for their 2019 Copa do Brasil trophy.
The 33-year-old now plays in Indonesia for PSS Sleman.
2014 – Erik
Age at time of award: 19
Position: Striker
International Apps: 0
Career path: Goiás, Palmeiras, Atlético Mineiro (loan), Botafogo (loan), Yokohama F. Marinos (loan), Changchun Yatai, Machida Zelvia, Vissel Kobe (loan)
The former Brazil Under-23 international burst onto the scene in 2014 while playing for Goiás, for whom he averaged a goal every three games.
In 2015, despite interest from European clubs including Fenerbahce, Erik opted to stay in Brazil, signing a five-year deal with Palmeiras. He seems to have found himself in Japanese football though, with a loan spell at Yokohama F. Marinos between 2019 and 2020 and now playing for Vissel Kobe since the start of 2025.
2015 – Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Jesus has now scored 20 goals across all competitions in back-to-back season for Man City.
— Squawka (@Squawka) July 11, 2020
2018/19: 21 goals
2019/20: 20 goals (and counting)
Going about his business. ? pic.twitter.com/BOYvhMAc6e
Age at time of award: 18
Position: Striker
International Apps: 64
Career path: Palmeiras, Manchester City, Arsenal
During Guardiola‘s first summer in charge, Manchester City’s spending soared past the £100m mark with the £27m capture of highly sought-after Brazilian wonderkid Gabriel Jesus from Palmeiras. The forward officially linked up with his new club in January 2017 after seeing out the remainder of the Brazilian league season with Palmeiras.
Even with his career, at that point, very much in its infancy, Jesus had still achieved plenty in the game, scoring 28 goals in 83 appearances for Palmeiras.
The presence of City’s all-time leading marksman Sergio Aguero limited Jesus’ playing time at the Etihad and led him to making the switch to the Emirates. He is now recovering from a serious knee injury suffered in January 2025 against Manchester United in the FA Cup.
2016 – Vitor Bueno
Age at time of award: 22
Position: Attacking-midfielder
International Apps: 0
Career path: Botafogo, Santos (loan), Santos, Dynamo Kiev (loan), São Paulo, Athletico Paranaense, Cerezo Osaka
Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP), not to be confused with Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas (the club Garrincha made world famous), the young Vitor Bueno would ultimately join regional powerhouse Santos where his talents began to shine.
The attacking midfielder signed a two-year loan contract with Ukrainian giants Dynamo Kyiv, but returned to Brazil with São Paulo and Athletico Paranaense before joining Japanese side Cerezo Osaka in early 2024.
2017 – Arthur
Arthur has made 61 appearances for Barcelona in LaLiga and the Champions League and maintained a pass accuracy of 92.7%. ?
— Squawka (@Squawka) June 29, 2020
Was this the final farewell? pic.twitter.com/uVRdxMm78s
Age at time of award: 21
Position: Midfielder
International Apps: 22
Career path: Gremio, Barcelona, Juventus, Liverpool (loan), Fiorentina (loan), Girona (loan)
A talented controlling midfielder, Arthur was the pivot behind Grêmio’s Copa Libertadores triumph, so much so it convinced Barça to make him their first major acquisition ahead of the 2018/19 season.
He’d subsequently become a regular for the Brazil national team under Tite and made a reported £72.5m move to Juventus, but has since disappointed with his performances. Juve loaned him out to Liverpool, Fiorentina and Girona and now find themselves wondering what to do with the 29-year-old who isn’t expected to play for them again.
2018 – Pedro
Age at time of award: 21
Position: Striker
International Apps: 6
Career path: Fluminense, Fiorentina, Flamengo
A former teammate of Richarlison at Fluminense, whom he subsequently replaced to make his Serie A debut for the club in 2016. The Rio de Janeiro-born forward received widespread plaudits after finishing as the club’s top goalscorer in 2018, with Fluminense rejecting lucrative offers from Bordeaux and Mexico’s Monterrey.
Eventually the club broke bread with Fiorentina and the promising Brazilian relocated to Italy in 2019, but lasted just six months there and subsequently returned to Brazil. His initial loan deal with Flamengo became permanent a year later and he is still there to this day.
2019 – Michael
Age at time of award: 23
Position: Winger
International Apps: 0
Career path: Monte Cristo, Goiânia, Goianésia, Goiás, Flamengo, Al-Hilal, Flamengo
Michael took an unconventional route to Serie A prominence, representing amateur sides during his formative years before eventually joining Goiás in 2017.
The 5ft 5in forward helped the ‘Big Green’ secure promotion to Serie A in 2018 and he was in explosive form for the club in 2019 before following Pedro through the door at Flamengo in the January 2020 window. He left for Al-Hilal two years later, returned to the Rubro-Negro in August 2024 and now seems to be on his way out yet again.
2020 – Claudinho
Age at time of award: 24
Position: Attacking-midfielder
International Apps: 0
Career path: Corinthians, Bragantino, Ponte Preta, Oeste, Red Bull Bragantino, Zenit, Al-Sadd
Bragantino returned to the top flight in style in 2020 for their first full season in the Red Bull Era, following a 20-year absence from the Serie A. Claudinho was their main man that year, ending as the league’s tied top goalscorer, alongside São Paulo’s Luciano (both with 18 goals).
He would spend one more year in Bragança Paulista before getting his move to European football, signing for Zenit in August 2021 and staying there for four and a half seasons. The 28-year-old now plays for Qatari side Al-Sadd.
2021 – André
Age at time of award: 20
Position: Defensive-midfielder
International Apps: 12
Career path: Fluminense, Wolves
André made his Fluminense debut in 2020, but played just 12 games that season and only twice as a starter. He started having a true impact on the team a year later, quickly becoming a starter.
The 2022 and especially 2023 seasons were even better as he became a Libertadores champion. He fulfilled his promise to win trophies for Fluminense, who then sold him to Wolves in August 2024.
2022 – Endrick
Age at time of award: 20
Position: Striker
International Apps: 14
Career path: Palmeiras, Real Madrid
Endrick probaly should’ve won this a year later, but the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) was such a mess in 2023 that they simply skipped the award.
The new Real Madrid No.9 made his professional debut in October 2022 and played just seven Serie A games. Still, he made his minutes count and scored three times – once every 103 minutes.
He truly took the league by storm in 2023, bagging 11 goals in 31 league games. Most notably, scoring a brace that led an away comeback win for Palmeiras against Botafogo en route to snatching the title from their hands.
Now, he is fighting for a starting spot in Xabi Alonso’s offence at Real Madrid with local lad Gonzalo García, who enjoyed a wonderful campaign at the FIFA Club World Cup.
2024 – Estêvão
Age at time of award: 20
Position: Right-winger
International Apps: 5
Career path: Palmeiras, Chelsea
Another product of the Palmeiras academy, Estêvão was their best player until leaving for Chelsea and led them to the 2024 Serie A title, scoring 13 goals and creating a further 9 in the process.
He also scored against the Blues in the CWC quarter finals, but it wasn’t enough as the Alviverde ultimately fell short and got knocked out by the eventual champions.
However, he started his Chelsea career in style, starting in his first friendly and finding the net against Bayer Leverkusen within 20 minutes.
The 18-year-old also came off the bench against AC Milan and won a penalty just six minutes later.