Who Is John Victor?

Full Name: John Victor Maciel Furtado

Born: 13 February 1996, Diadema, Brazil

Height: Approximately 1.96–1.97 m (around 6 ft 5 in)

Position: Goalkeeper

Current Club: Botafogo, wearing squad number 12

Youth & Early Career

Developed in the youth systems of São Paulo and Santos. Became part of Santos’ first-team setup around 2016 as a backup option

Loaned to Portuguesa Santista in 2019, where he became a regular starter

Summary Table: John Victor

Nationality:Brazilian

Position:Goalkeeper (6’5″)

Clubs:Youth at São Paulo, Santos; Loans at Internacional, Valladolid; Current: Botafogo

Achievements:Serie A 2024, Copa Libertadores finalist, multiple individual honors

Key Strengths:Shot-stopping, distribution, consistency under pressure

Transfer:Interest Strong pursuit by West Ham, bids ongoing (~£9–10m)

Fenerbahce have opened negotiations to bring in John Victor after his move to West Ham broke down, sources have told Football Insider.

The Turkish team have now taken advantage of the change of mind of the Hammers to sign the Brazilian shot stopper.

According Football Insider:

“Football Insider revealed that West Ham were confident of signing Victor after an improved bid to Botafogo.

However, the keeper was left in limbo after West Ham pulled out of an agreed deal with Victor at the last minute in a reported “disgraceful” manner.”

And at the end a funny story.

Here’s a funny story about John Victor 😅:

When he was still at Santos, teammates used to joke about how calm he was—sometimes too calm. In one training session, while the squad was running intense drills, John casually leaned against the goalpost, pretending to be “waiting for a bus.” The coach shouted at him, and John just smiled and said:

“Don’t worry, mister. Nothing’s coming this way anyway.”

The whole squad burst out laughing, and since then he got a reputation for being chilled under pressure, almost to a comic level.

That “laid-back vibe” has stuck with him—even at Botafogo, fans sometimes tease that he looks like he’s just “on holiday” while making world-class saves. 🧤😎