Luis Guilherme: West Ham’s forgotten talent or future star? Luis Guilherme signed for West Ham in the summer of 2024 for a fee of £25.5 million from Brazilian side Palmeiras.
The recently turned 19-year-old is yet to start for the Hammers this season, only coming off the bench on seven occasions in all competitions, with a combined total of 53 minutes of playing time.
Guilherme was heavily linked with a move away from East London in the January transfer window, with Shakhtar Donetsk reportedly putting in a £12million bid for the Brazilian.
The winger has instead stayed at the club, which raises the question: will we see more of the Brazilian in a West Ham shirt?
The youngster came off the bench for only a few minutes in West Ham’s defeat to Chelsea but produced quite an impressive display in his short stint on the pitch.
It clearly took Guilherme a few minutes to get up to the speed of the game, getting dispossessed on a couple of occasions, but eventually his fresh legs started to give West Ham a new lease of life in the final third.L
The Hammers came awfully close to finding an equaliser in the dying stages, when Mohammed Kudus’ close-range effort on the turn was heroically blocked by Tosin Adarabioyo.
It was the lead up to this goal which will have caught the eye of West Ham fans, however, with Guilherme picking up the ball inside his own half and getting himself into the final third before picking out Jarrod Bowen, who eventually set up Kudus for his chance.
The close control and pace with which the teenager was attacking the Chelsea defence was impressive and is the first real glimpse we’ve seen of the Brazilian’s ability all season.
Guilherme’s chances under Potter
Graham Potter has highlighted his desire to integrate academy players into the West Ham first team when speaking on Iron Cast, which we’ve seen him do with the likes of Ollie Scarles and Lewis Orford so far.
Guilherme has appeared in three of the five games Potter has managed so far, which suggests he is a player the boss is trying to integrate a bit more into his plans.
Up to now, Guilherme is the most expensive-ever West Ham signing to have not started a game for the club, but with a promising display against Chelsea, Hammers fans will be hopeful this statistic willchange in the near future.
