On Monday, Hamburger SV confirmed the arrival of defensive midfielder, Walace from Gremio Porto Alegre.
The 21-year-old has signed a deal through to 2021, with the fee remaining undisclosed. Walace has already started training with the club and will wear the number 12 for HSV.
Plenty of promise
Despite his age, Walace already has plenty of experience under his belt from his time at Gremio. He has already claimed Olympic Gold, against Germany, last summer and also won the Brazilian Cup with Gremio in 2016. He will be hoping to transfer that form and success over to his new club and settle as quickly as possible.
Walace is the third defensive reinforcement of this window for Markus Gisdol, as the Brazilian joins Mergim Mavraj and Kyriakos Papadopoulos as the new arrivals into the club. He joins Douglas Santos as the other Brazilian at the Volksparkstadion, who he has also played with in the Brazilian Olympic squad.
Walace and Todt have their say
Both Walace and sporting director, Jens Todt spoke to the club website when the deal was announced and gave their thoughts on the move.
The Brazilian commented, "I am very pleased to be here in Hamburg. What is important, is that I settle in here quickly and also put in a good performance on the pitch. I hope that I can help the club during the currently tough situation."
Todt explained, "We want to make the familiarisation process as easy as possible for him, but we can not expect too much from him right from the beginning of his time in Germany. We will treat him fairly and give him a time to adapt."
Walace will be hoping to hit the ground running as Hamburg find themselves embroiled in another relegation battle. He could make his debut on Friday evening, as HSV welcome Bayer Leverkusen to the Volksparkstadion.