Nathan Joyes of the Copa Club podcast believes that new signing Gustavo Nunes is “a perfect fit for Brentford”.

The forward has joined the Bees from Brazilian top-flight side Grêmio where he has impressed with his direct, old-fashioned wing play.

Joyes, a South American football expert, is not surprised by Nunes's switch to the Premier League but stressed that supporters must be patient as the 18-year-old adapts to a new environment.

Were you expecting Gustavo Nunes to come to the Premier League this early in his career?

It’s a yes and no answer. Nunes made his debut in the cup in February, so he has only had six months of senior football, but he has been one of the more impressive wingers and has adapted really well to senior football.

To add a bit more context as to why he was given this opportunity, Grêmio were in a situation where they had to sell a few players last year and key attacking players like Luis Suárez were moved on.

Nunes was always going to get an opportunity because of how highly rated he was in the academy, but because of players being sold, he was given more minutes than expected.

He impressed immediately after coming in and adapted to playing in other competitions like the Copa Libertadores, which he scored and assisted in.

Brazilian football is not at the standard of the Premier League, but you can just see sometimes when a player has that little bit of spark and that little bit of magic.

Nunes is a direct, old-fashioned winger. We do not see wingers that much in this day and age getting at full-backs. He is very quick in the transition and wants to get at his full-backs with as few tricks as possible, relying on his pace to beat players – and that is what has caught the eye in Brazil this year.

He has been so direct and especially on the big pitches out there, he has been able to exploit the room against full-backs. He has been a shining light for them and attracted interest as a result.

You’ve mentioned his directness already; what are his other key attributes?

Nunes is very direct because of how quick he is; do not underestimate his pace. Yes, he is very direct and a very efficient player, but he is not selfish at all. He only takes two or three touches before asking himself whether he can get at the full-back and, if he cannot, he thinks about moving the ball inside to someone else or switching the play.

That unselfishness has stood him in very good stead. One of Nunes’s main assets is just how good he is in transition. He knows how to find room, especially on that left-hand side, and thrives picking up the ball and carrying it into those areas. When he gets into those areas and his team-mates find him, he is very good at assisting.

With the way he gets down that left channel, he is very good at pulling it back into the six-yard box and finding his fellow winger or a striker and that is why his assist tally has started to rise in the last month or two.

When I last looked, he was only averaging an hour per game in the top flight and half an hour in domestic competitions, but he is the second-highest at the moment in terms of dribbles completed, only behind Corinthians’ Wesley, who looks likely to be heading to Al-Nasr in the Saudi Pro League. He is just an efficient player, but unselfish with that – and that is what I like about him the most. If gets himself stuck, he is very good at using body feints to get out of situations, but he does not overdo it.

If he knows that is the end of his particular journey in that move, he will look to progress it into a team-mate in another attacking position. He does not like to stop the ball and bring it back; he is always looking to keep a move going forward, which is very much how Grêmio have been set up this year in a 4-3-3.

Brentford often play a 4-3-3 as well, so that could be a good fit and maybe that is why they have identified him. There are a lot of strengths there, but the way he sets up in transition play is excellent for his age.

Is he capable of playing on the right or as a no.10, too?

Nunes has played on the left for Grêmio because it has worked and that is the position they desperately needed. But we have seen in the last four to six weeks that he has been drifting inside; even when he has been playing on the left, he has come central.

He is right-footed and so is not afraid to go more direct into that no.10 role and operate in the box a little bit more.

I love a winger who does not just stay in their zonal area, and it seems he is trying to get more opportunities to add goals to his game. I would say he is better drifting into the no.10 position rather than starting there.

Nunes is only 18 and has not spent much time on the right-hand side because it has worked so well for him on the left and Grêmio have not had the need to change that. But he is mouldable and that is what makes him so brilliant because he is right footed and, in 2024, your left winger has to be right footed and vice versa on the other side. Maybe that is why he is the perfect fit for what Brentford want.

How good do you think he can become in the future?

Because I cover South American football, I like to wrap these players in cotton wool when they come across and I feel like they are a younger brother of mine!

99 per cent of if they are to make it in Europe is what happens off the pitch and it has to be the right environment for them, in terms of a new culture and a new language.

His ceiling is incredibly high. We are judging him based on six months of senior football, but he has already got a few highlight reels, just from that. He has adapted to incredibly difficult circumstances and it would have been amazing to see him at Grêmio last season, when they finished third in the table with Suárez in the side – I can assure you his assist tally would have been a lot higher.

Coming to a team with two or three strikers that know where the goal is, given his unselfishness, I think that assist tally can go a lot higher. Fitting into the same system will help, too. It is not like he is coming over and having to completely adapt in terms of his role. And the fact he is unlikely to be starting straight away is a blessing.

Hopefully Brentford have a good couple of cup runs where Nunes can get an opportunity to adapt, but my first message would be for people to give him time. There is no point judging him now because this is going to be a completely different environment for him, but there is everything there to suggest he can be a top Premier League player.