Rayan accelerates in the Premier League and shows he is ready for the next step

Rayan was born in Rio de Janeiro and grew up in an environment where football was never far away. The son of Valkmar, a defender who played for Vasco in the 1990s and early 2000s, he breathed football from an early age, learning from his father and walking the corridors of the club.

Rayan joined Vasco's youth ranks at the age of six and quickly built a reputation as a goalscorer from the youngest divisions. According to a 2017 report by GE, at the age of 11 he had scored 280 goals between futsal and outdoor football. In the youth teams, he was seen as a technical reference and had an instinct for finishing, which made him one of the most talked-about prospects of his generation.

Rayan made his professional debut in a Campeonato Carioca match against Fluminense in January 2023. In June of that year, the 16-year-old striker started for the first time in his career, in a Brasileirão match against Internacional, and scored his first professional goal. With that, he became Vasco's youngest goalscorer of the century. "I'm very happy with my first goal as a professional. I've been here since I was six years old," he said after the match.

In the following years, Rayan began to consolidate his presence in the starting line-up. The arrival of Fernando Diniz at Vasco in 2025 was a turning point: the coach gave him a clear role in the offensive system, exploiting his ability to infiltrate, read spaces and finish with his left foot (his favourite). As a result, the striker ended the season with 20 goals in 57 matches, establishing himself as an essential part of Cruzmaltino.

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Before the end of the 2025 season, Rayan began to be scouted by foreign teams. An ESPN investigation saw Barcelona, Liverpool, Arsenal and Aston Villa emerge as potential candidates in Europe, while Al Hilal and Al Nassr were cited as interested parties in Saudi Arabia. Later, Tottenham, Chelsea and Bayern, according to new reports, also appeared as possible destinations for the 19-year-old striker.

The outcome of the story, however, was different. In January 2026, Rayan ended up transferring to Premier League side Bournemouth for €35 million and signed a contract until June 2031. The deal was the biggest sale in Vasco da Gama's history and the third-biggest purchase in the English club's history. The scale of the transfer was clear in the international press, with the newspaper AS describing Rayan's arrival in England as a real "market coup" and highlighting that he "has been considered a star player since day one".

Another positive analysis of the transfer came from the FotMob platform, which wrote: "Has Bournemouth got it right again with the signing of Rayan?", placing the Brazilian in line with the Cherries' recent string of young signings that have quickly generated sporting returns.

And indeed, it seems that there was no better place for Rayan to develop than Bournemouth.

Bournemouth is now essentially a mid-table team. Its manager, however, is world class. Andoni Iraola arrived in 2023, and before him, the Cherries were constantly bouncing between the first and second divisions. Time passed, the football improved, and the Spanish coach proved he was the right choice for the job. This culminated in the achievement of the 2024/25 season, when Bournemouth repeated the best finish in its Premier League history, finishing in ninth place (which had also happened in the 2016/17 season).

It may not seem like much, but for a team from a city with less than 180,000 inhabitants and the smallest stadium in the Premier League, it meant a lot. Iraola, of course, received his due for the achievement. But not only for that, but also for his ability to get the most out of his players on the pitch.

The result was a wave of multi-million-pound sales for the Cherries from the 2024/25 season to the current one: Dango Ouattara (to Brentford), Milos Kerkez (to Liverpool), Dean Huijsen (to Real Madrid) and Ilya Zabarnyi (to Paris Saint-Germain). The most recent was Antoine Semenyo, who left in January for Manchester City for a mere £65 million, the most expensive sale in the club's history.

Adding up Bournemouth's seven most expensive transfers, consisting of the five players above plus Dominic Solanke (now at Tottenham) and Nathan Aké (now at Manchester City), the cumulative value is €396.8 million. And what was the total purchase price of these seven players? The answer is €149.85 million, less than half their sale value.

Rayan has therefore gone to a machine that enhances talent and increases the value of athletes. If he reaches the potential he is showing, the €35 million accepted by Vasco will seem like pocket change in no time.

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In his first three Premier League games, Rayan has scored two goals and provided one assist. The only under-19 players to have achieved these figures were Ireland's Robbie Kane and France's Anthony Martial. Rayan has therefore already broken a record that few have managed to achieve.

But numbers, however impressive, do not show the extent of Rayan's brilliance in his early days in England.

In the 90th minute of his first match, in which he came off the bench, he received the ball from a teammate at the edge of the box, quickly turned, putting his body in front of the defender, and won the duel. Then, from the goal line, he looked up and made an accurate pass to the middle of the six-yard box. His teammate only had to tap it in. Strength, agility, intelligence and precision, all in one move.

In the next game, his first as a starter, another brilliant move: in the 55th minute, he received a low pass on the right wing (controlling it with his right foot) and advanced with the ball, driving it with his left foot. When he reached the edge of the area, he noticed the defender leaning to the right and quickly cut to the opposite side. His opponent in defence saw the mistake and tried to cover Rayan's left, where he could shoot with his dominant foot. The Brazilian, however, gave it a slight touch and shot with the tip of his right foot. The ball went into the corner of the goal, sending the crowd into a frenzy. This was Rayan's first goal in the Premier League.

Rayan, at 1.85m, is tall and strong. A raw striker, so to speak, but also very refined. And Bournemouth may not be the only ones wanting to take advantage of these characteristics.

The World Cup is approaching, and one of the most uncertain positions in the Brazilian national team is the attack. Who will wear the number 9 jersey? Until the end of the qualifiers, João Pedro was the main candidate to be Brazil's starting centre forward, but today the scenario is not quite the same.

Igor Thiago has been scoring goals galore in the Premier League and is currently the competition's second-highest scorer with 17. Endrick went to Lyon and is once again a key player there, proving that he should never have been sidelined as he was at Real Madrid. Gabriel Jesus returned from injury after months on the sidelines and showed that he still has the talent that got him to Arsenal, where he has been scoring goals. There is also Richarlison, Ancelotti's "darling," and Igor Jesus, also in the fight for a spot.

Rayan was already part of the debate as a Vasco player, but now, with his excellent performances at Bournemouth, he has entered the fray for good. Whether or not he should be called up, there are still few arguments. He was decisive in his first three games for his new team in England, but that was only three. If he continues like this until the end of the season, it would not be crazy to see him as a backup option , coming on to bring strength, verticality and dynamism to the team. The prospects of him taking the starting spot in Brazil are highly unlikely, but who knows what is going through Carlo Ancelotti's mind?

There are four months left until the World Cup and a lot can still change. For this or future editions, what really matters is proving that you can perform at the highest level — and, at the beginning of his European career, Rayan has already shown that he is ahead of the game.