Igor Thiago is, remarkably, less than five years into his professional career.

After losing his father when he was just 13, the Brazilian had to work to support his mother, meaning dreams of becoming a footballer were put on the backburner until he joined Vere and later Cruzeiro, who handed him his professional debut in January 2020.

After 64 appearances and 10 goals in three seasons, Thiago crossed the Atlantic to join Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets Razgrad in March 2022.

He initially linked up with the club’s reserves, but scored three goals in his first four games, which prompted an almost immediate promotion to the first team, who won an 11th straight league title in 2021/22.

He spearheaded the attack to great effect in 2022/23, scoring 20 goals and assisting 11 more as the Eagles won a domestic treble - consisting of the Bulgarian First League, the Bulgarian Cup and the Bulgarian Super Cup - for the second time in their history.

Club Brugge then paid a reported record fee received by a Bulgarian club to sign Thiago last summer.

Again, he settled stunningly. This time around, he scored 29 goals and provided six assists as the Belgian club won the Jupiler Pro League for a 19th time and advanced to the semi-final of the Europa Conference League.

Earlier in 2024, Tomas Taecke - journalist at Belgian news outlet Het Laatste Nieuws - said of his abilities: “What he is very good at is being in the right place at the right time, attacking balls, and he also takes penalties. He is a pretty complete striker in most aspects, with a high ceiling.”

In February, it was announced he would join Brentford for an undisclosed, club-record fee on 1 July 2024, with Kevin Schade vacating the no.9 shirt for him. His first interview gave an insight into his mindset: “I always dream, because I think the most important thing in an athlete's life is to always dream,” he said. “I want to make history here at Brentford.”