That is what happened regarding Eduardo Conceição in early 2025, when new Germany coach Klopp — then overseeing football operations across the Red Bull network — visited Palmeiras and requested a meeting with the academy's most talked-about teenager. João Paulo Sampaio, the club's academy director, still enjoys telling the story.
"Klopp was there and wanted to meet him. He asked me how much he cost. I told him: 'You still don't have enough money to buy a player like this.'"
Two formal Red Bull bids followed within months — the first around £6m, the second raised to roughly £8.5m. Palmeiras rejected both. Conceição only found out afterwards, through his agent, and admits he struggled to process it.
"I found out through my agent during a dinner. I couldn't believe it. I was honoured. For a coach at that level in Europe to speak highly of me is very gratifying."
None of it was accidental. Conceição joined Palmeiras' academy in 2018 at just nine years old, initially through the club's futsal programme, having come up through community football projects in São Paulo's south and east zones. He signed his first professional contract in January 2026, days after tearing through the Copinha — Brazil's showcase youth tournament — with four goals and two assists in a single 9-0 win over Batalhão-TO.
Lucas Andrade, who coached him in that competition, saw the same traits scouts keep circling back to.
"He can play in three attacking positions comfortably — either flank or as a second striker. His main characteristic is the dribble, and in Brazil that carries real value. It's a real pleasure watching players who have the dribbling solutions to break down defensive systems."
That dribbling comes with an unusually direct approach to goal for a player still two years from a European transfer being legally possible. Right-footed but happiest cutting in from the left, Conceição is at his most dangerous isolated one-on-one near the byline, backing himself to beat a full-back rather than recycle possession — closer in profile to a young Rodrygo than to a traditional Brazilian dribbling winger, with the end product already ahead of his years.
The comparisons to Palmeiras' recent academy graduates are unavoidable, and Conceição has been candid about which of them shaped him.
"Endrick and Estêvão are the biggest inspiration for all of us who are chasing our dream," he said. "My biggest idol is Endrick — what he did for Palmeiras was unique. Of course, it's impossible not to mention Neymar, who is the idol of an entire generation. I also draw a lot from Estêvão's game, partly because our styles are quite similar."
The family connection runs deeper than fandom — one of Conceição's agents is Douglas Souza, Endrick's father — but he is wary of being cast as anyone's successor.
"Everyone starting out has to get used to comparisons," he said. "It's incredible to be compared to players of real success that I admire, but my goal is to build my own path, to show the world who Eduardo is."
His family, he says, keeps that ambition in perspective, "The pressure is something natural for those who play for Palmeiras. We are used to dealing with it from a young age. My family helps me a lot with that — they always remind me how important it is to keep my feet on the ground."
Brazil's underage set-up has already put that composure to the test. Conceição started the Sul-Americano Sub-17 semi-final against Colombia this year, a game he approached with the same measured tone.
"We know it's going to be a tightly fought game. We know Colombia, a very good team, but our group is focused and concentrated on getting the win and, God willing, reaching the final," he said, before praising his youth-national coach, Carlos Eduardo Patetuci. "The coach always gives me confidence, and the whole group too."
Palmeiras, for their part, are in no hurry to hand Europe what it wants. Head coach Abel Ferreira has taken Conceição under his wing the way he did with Endrick and Estêvão before him, and senior players including Marlon Freitas used the World Cup break to work individually with the teenager on his positioning during pre-season.
His youth minutes have been deliberately trimmed — no Under-17 football since June, no Under-20 outing since May — in favour of first-team integration.
Manchester City, Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona have all held talks over a deal structured around roughly €25m fixed plus €15m in add-ons, well short of the €50m Palmeiras are holding out for. None of it can be finalised until January 2028, when FIFA's rules on transfers of minors allow Conceição to move.
For now, his stated ambition stops well short of Europe.
"My dream is to have the opportunity to debut for Palmeiras' first team and make a difference on the pitch, like others have done in recent seasons," he said.
Given how the story has gone so far, that particular wish may not take long to grant.