Eduardo Conceicao: The latest member of Palmeiras' 'Billion Generation' being linked with Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City

Eduardo was born in Sao Paulo on December 7, 2009 and quickly developed an interest in football thanks to his father, who played the game himself. "Since I was little I accompanied my father everywhere," he explained.

"I started playing in amateur leagues, in youth academies, and, one day, one of my coaches got me a trial at Palmeiras. After four days, I passed it, so then I came for an evaluation within the club and was taken on at nine years old." He's been with his hometown club ever since.

It quickly became clear that, in Eduardo, Palmeiras had unearthed another gem. He consistently played well above his age group as he progressed through one of the most respected youth academies in world football and, in January of this year, he was included in his club's squad for the Copa Sao Paulo de Futbol Junior - one of the most prestigious Under-20 tournaments in Brazil football - despite only having turned 16 the month before.

Despite all of the hype surrounding his involvement at such a young age, Eduardo didn't disappoint. In just his second outing in the group stage, he scored four goals and created three others during a dazzling display that stunned supporters and scouts.

Just days later, Eduardo signed his first professional contract with Palmeiras, who also wisely inserted a club-record €100 million (£86m/$118m) buy-out clause in the agreement.

"I am very grateful," Eduardo admitted in an interview with AS. "Everything I am as an athlete I owe to the work the club has done since I arrived.

"Palmeiras has developed several players for the professional team in recent years. The work done by (academy director) Joao Paulo Sampaio is a benchmark in the country, and the Copinha is always an opportunity for people to closely follow this work.

"Knowing that I am valued for what I do on the field makes me very happy. It's extra motivation to keep improving every day."

Eduardo has continued to turn out for Palmeiras at Under-20s level, both in the Brasileiro and the Copa Libertadores. However, he also represented Brazil in last month's Under-17 South American Championship and unsurprisingly caught the eye.

Eduardo scored his country's tournament-opener, in a 5-0 rout of Bolivia, while he was also on target in a 3-0 win over long-time rivals Argentina in the group stage.

Brazil ended up finishing third, thanks to a 1-0 win over Ecuador, having been beaten by eventual winners Colombia in the semi-finals, but despite his disappointment at failing to go all the way, Eduardo is already looking forward excitedly to this year's Under-17 World Cup, which will be staged in Qatar in November and December.

"The 'Sul-Americano' didn't end the way we'd hoped but the whole squad is upbeat and grateful for the trust placed in it," the forward wrote on Instagram. "I'm happy with my performance but even happier for the group we are building. We move on to Qatar..."

As is so often the case with young but incredibly skilful wingers, Eduardo is occasionally guilty of taking too much out of the ball. Luckily for him, his mentor Sampaio is relentlessly impressing upon him the importance of knowing when to release the ball.

"I always talk to Joao Paulo; he's very present in our daily lives, in training and in matches," Eduardo told AS. "He's someone who demands a lot from us because he knows what we can contribute and where we can improve.

"After the match, he talks to me about moments in the game where I made the wrong decisions, adjustments that can help me grow as an athlete. When he speaks, everyone listens."

Sampaio, for his part, is in no doubt that Eduardo has all of the attributes required to make it at the very highest level - provided he keeps his feet on the ground.

"I tell him, 'You have to keep in mind that you need to fight like a lion every day,'" the Palmeiras academy chief revealed after the club gave him a contract until 2029. "Now, he's becoming more well-known, the scrutiny will double, everyone will always expect a perfect game from him, and he'll have to know how to handle that.

"He needs to understand that the answer will always be on the field, never what's off the field. We will give him opportunities, but he needs to take advantage of them."

As a fleet-footed left winger, Eduardo says that he looked up to Neymar as a kid because Brazil's all-time leading goalscorer was "the idol of an entire generation" - but he freely admits that his chief source of inspiration is Endrick because "what he did for Palmeiras was unique".

However, when it comes to his particular set of skills, Eduardo unquestionably has more in common with Estevao.

"I've already been able to learn a lot from his football, even though he's left-footed and I'm right-footed." he said of the Chelsea winger. "On a global level, Yamal is a player with a similar playing style to mine, always looking to pull off individual plays."

Unsurprisingly, Eduardo is reluctant to get bogged down in comparisons - not least because he has own attributes. Indeed, when one considers that he's already 1.8 metres tall (5 foot 11 inches), he has the potential to become a far greater threat in the air than many of his role models if he puts more effort into improving his heading.

"It's incredible that I'm compared to highly successful players I admire," he told AS, "but my goal is to forge my own path, to show who Eduardo is to Brazil and the world."

For now, Eduardo is solely focused on realising his primary objective of lining up for the Palmeiras senior side and it only feels like a matter of time before he makes one of the most eagerly-awaited debuts in the club's history.

However, there is actually a chance that his next move will be decided before he's even had his first taste of elite-level football. Indeed, Sampaio recently revealed Palmeiras have already rejected "two offers for him between €20m and €25m, excluding bonuses", with the Sao Paulo said to be confident of pocketing a fee closer to €50m (£43m/$59m) for the newest member of 'The Billionaire Generation'.

Of course, even if a deal is agreed soon, Eduardo won't actually be allowed to move to Europe until he turns 18 in December 2028 - and that's just fine with him, given his love for Palmeiras.

"It’s one step at a time," he pointed out. "In two years I'll only be 18, still very young! And, for now, I just want to make a name for myself at this great club that opened its doors to a boy with many dreams."

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