Luizao, the forgotten man of West Ham United, has not had as many chances as he would have liked to train with the Premier League outfit’s first-team roster.
Two-and-a-half years since joining in a £4.2 million deal from Sao Paulo, Luizao’s only senior minutes came in Poland during a loan spell at Pogon Szczecin in the second half of last season.
Understandably then, the Brazilian defender is keen to leave West Ham this summer. His representatives are open to discussing either a permanent or a temporary switch.
And, by his own admission, his hopes of making that Premier League dream a reality were not aided by the appointment of Julen Lopetegui. A coach who appeared to have little interest in looking beyond the here and now.
£25 million summer signing Luis Guilherme barely featured under Lopetegui. While, much to Luizao’s bemusement, George Earthy was farmed out to Bristol City shortly after winning West Ham United’s Young Player of the Year award.
But even during his ill-fated, forgettable spell in the English capital, Luizao will always look back with fondness on the admittedly brief time he spent working alongside one Declan Rice on the training pitch.
Luizao knew Declan Rice was a superstar while still at West Ham United
One of Earthy’s predecessors in the Young Hammer of the Year history books, he stands head and shoulders above the rest in the eyes of a defender not surprised to see Declan Rice own the Champions League stage these days.
“Rice was very intelligent. He is very intelligent. He is the kind of guy who always stepped into the [forward] areas, came back and was already defending,” Luizao recalls. “Very intense, very physical, protects the midfield a lot.
“He was a pillar, besides being a very young captain.”
Those who argue that Rice took his game to a completely new level following that £105 million move to Arsenal back in 2023 were clearly not paying attention. The England international was already one of the most complete midfielders in the country – if not in Europe – while wearing the claret and blue of West Ham United.
Yet, thanks in part to his stunning David Beckham-esque brace against Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-finals, Rice finished last season with a career-best nine goals to his name.
Almost double his finest tally in a West Ham shirt.
“There are a lot of these defensive midfielders [in the modern game] who have to step into areas and also go into the box. Also, with the ball, they have to have technical quality,” adds the 23-year-old Luizao.
“Today, he is one of the best in the world in his position. He’s a great player.”
Jarrod Bowen replaces Declan Rice as West Ham’s captain and talisman
After a season in which Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus both fell well short of their previous heights, Jarrod Bowen is clearly the closest thing West Ham United have in the post-Rice era to a truly elite-level talent.
After watching him curl a sublime strike into the Ipswich Town net, Kieran McKenna labelled West Ham’s talisman a world-leading operator. Former England international Darren Bent feels Bowen wouldn’t look out of place in the Champions League alongside his old skipper.
“He is so crucial to what West Ham do,” Bent told talkSPORT, the Hammers eternally grateful to Bowen’s enduring loyalty. “Also, he looks like he loves his football club. They love him. There is no doubting his quality. Top, top drawer. He could easily play for a team in the Champions League. That’s a fact.
“I just don’t get the burning desire from him [that he wants to leave]. Some players you think; ‘He can’t wait to leave’. I don’t get that with Jarrod Bowen.
“I wouldn’t say it is a lack of ambition [but] he is 28 years old, he should be playing in the Champions League.”
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