The new Manchester City signing is something rather different.
“He's a footballer,” Vickery told Football Presse. “There is a winger in him, but he does a lot of other things as well. He's very versatile. I mean, he can come in and play the extra man in midfield. He can defend very well. So he's a good all-round footballer.”
That versatility is what distinguishes Allan from the type of Brazilian attacker who has become increasingly common in the domestic game.
“You wouldn't call him like a Brazilian wonderkid,” Vickery said.
That does not mean he lacks attacking ability. Rather, Vickery sees a player capable of contributing in several different phases of the game, something that could prove particularly valuable in Europe.
“He's not a straight replacement for Savinho, who's just left City, who is a winger player for the final third of the field. Allan is a player for...”
Vickery paused before considering where exactly the 22-year-old fits into Manchester City's plans.
“Whether he... I struggle to see how he'll get into the first team. But I think he's a very interesting all-round footballer.”
That assessment also helps explain why Palmeiras were reluctant to sell him.
The Brazilian club were still competing on three fronts when City made their move, sitting top of the Brazilian league while also reaching the semi-finals of the Brazilian Cup and quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores.
“They didn't want to sell,” Vickery said. “In a perfect world, they wouldn't have made the sale.”
Palmeiras had already rejected an offer from Aston Villa, but City's intervention changed the equation.
“Aston Villa came in first and they rejected the bid. But then in comes City, and then the player wanted it. So that, that, that was the difference. When the player really wants it, it's hard, it's hard to keep him.”
There was another factor.
“City paid much more than Villa were offering.”
Allan's emergence also tells a story about how quickly opportunities can open up at Palmeiras. Vickery explained that he first came into the team during the Club World Cup, when the level of the opposition forced the coaching staff to reconsider their options.
“He did get into the side in the Club World Cup. That's where he first really got noticed, in the knockout phase of the Club World Cup, because the coach realized, yeah, the level is higher now.”
But Allan's role was not simply to replace another player.
“Estevão was still there. If I bring Allan in, he will hold down, he will secure the right flank, allowing Estevão to run free. So that's when he first came into the side.”
That ability to provide balance may ultimately be what City value most.
Before Allan, Palmeiras had already seen other young players move on, including Luis Guilherme, who joined West Ham.
“He was behind Estevão. Before that, he was behind Luis Guilherme, who went to West Ham and did nothing.”
For Vickery, that is part of the brutal reality of Brazilian football's transfer market.
“Yes, I mean, the sale of one always, always opens room for another to come in.”
Allan, however, is arriving in England at an unusually mature age for a Brazilian prospect.
“There aren't that many around now because they go at 18,” Vickery said. “Allan is an exception. You know, Allan didn't really get into the team until he was 21 and he's now 22.”
And Vickery believes that may actually work in his favour.
“I'm sure there are some around, but they're coming out of the youth teams now. The European clubs know who they are, you know, from the age of 15, 16.”
Sometimes, he argues, patience is better.
“I think which is probably, probably for most of them, it's probably better to wait until you're 21, 22. But it's not the way that the market works. The market wants them at 18.”
Allan has therefore arrived at City later than many Brazilian prospects, but with something they may not always possess: experience of playing different roles.
“He's a very interesting all-round footballer,” Vickery said.
And that, rather than the label of Brazilian wonderkid, may ultimately be his greatest asset.