Who is Vitor Roque? ... Brazil's New Ronaldo

Almost 30 years ago, Brazilian supporters were bewitched by a teenage Cruzeiro forward who was lighting up both domestic and continental matches with regularity.

Having made his debut at the age of 16, Ronaldo scored at a rate of almost a goal a game during his year-long spell in the Cruzeiro first team before departing for Europe and worldwide fame.

It has taken nearly three decades for another attacker to emerge at the Mineirao and cause similar levels of excitement, but when Vitor Roque arrived into the senior side in 2021, the Ronaldo comparisons soon followed.

"He is going to fly so high," was the opinion of Ronaldo, now the owner of Cruzeiro, when asked about Vitor at the 2022.

That praise came at a time when the 17-year-old was in a run of form that saw him score six goals in seven games.

Vitor's arrival at Cruzeiro in 2019 caused great controversy.

Having been in the America-MG academy since the age of 10, Cruzeiro were sued when they made an offer of a contract to the youngster amid accusations of tapping the player up while he was still a child.

Three years on, he departed in almost-as acrimonious circumstances, with Cruzeiro angry with the way in which the player's agents had convinced Vitor to move Athletico Paranaense for more regular first-team football.

A player, who had debuted for the Cruzeiro first team at the age of 16, just like Ronaldo, had been lost to a domestic rival.

As it was, Athletico paid a club-record €4.4 million (£3.7m/$4.5m) to sign Vitor in April 2022, and he has already begun making a return on that investment.

Six weeks after the deal had been completed, he became Athletico's youngest-ever league goalscorer, before backing that up by breaking the same record in the Copa Libertadores a month late with a superb strike against Paraguayan outfit Libertad.

Though capable of playing out wide, Vitor's best position is as a central striker, where he is able to make up for a lack of physicality with speed and intelligent movement, as well as composed finishing that belies his lack of experience.