Gilberto Junior

Gilberto Junior's first title came before he had made a single senior appearance. In 2023, still a teenager on Palmeiras's books, he was part of the squad that won the Brazilian Serie A and the Supercopa do Brasil, medals earned without setting foot on the pitch — a reward for years spent in the academy rather than for anything he had done in a first-team shirt.

He joined Palmeiras at the age of 12, in 2017, and worked his way through the club's youth ranks for almost a decade before signing his first professional contract in December 2021, aged 16. That patience paid off in Brazil's under-20 side, where he was called up in 2025 and played at the U20 World Cup in Chile. His clearest run of first-team-adjacent football came the same year with Palmeiras's under-20 side, where he scored three goals and set up thirteen more in 36 matches from right-back.

This year he moved to Athletico Paranaense on loan, a switch that has finally given him regular senior minutes. He has made six appearances in the Brazilian Serie A in 2026, providing one assist as a right wing-back. Gilberto Junior wears the number 2 shirt at his new club, the position from which he is now looking to turn a decade of development into a settled place in senior football.