Adryan Oliveira Tavares, or simply Adryan (born 10 August 1994), is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for Italian club

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

. He has also represented

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

at various age groups up to

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

Club career

Flamengo

Adryan has always been treated as a prolific player with creativity. Champion for Flamengo at youth level in 2010, the

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

was selected, at that time aged 16, to play in the 2011

Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior The Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior (or ''São Paulo Youth Football Cup'', in English), also known as Copa São Paulo de Juniores (''São Paulo Youth Cup'') and Copinha (''Little Cup''), is a cup competition played by Brazilian under-20 associ ...

(which allowed players under 18 years of age), was one of the top players in the tournament and finished as champion. After the good campaign in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior coach

Vanderlei Luxemburgo Vanderlei Luxemburgo da Silva (born 10 May 1952) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player. He is currently a free agent. A left wingback, Luxemburgo represented Flamengo, Internacional and Botafogo before retiring in 1980. ...

gave him a chance to train in the pre-season preparation with the professional team to fill the void left by

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

. He debuted in a friendly match against

Londrina Londrina (, literally "Little London") is a city located in the north of the state of Paraná, South Region, Brazil, and is away from the state capital, Curitiba. It is the second largest city in the state and fourth largest in the southern regi ...

Estádio do Café The Estádio Jacy Scaff, usually known as Estádio do Café, is a football (soccer), football stadium inaugurated on August 22, 1976, in Londrina, Paraná (state), Paraná, with a maximum capacity of approximately 36,000 people. The stadium is ow ...

on 9 February 2011. He spent little time training with the professional team as he was selected to play with the Brazil U-17 team in the

2011 South American Under-17 Football Championship The 2011 South American Under-17 Football Championship ( es, link=no, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Ecuador 2011) was the 14th U-17 tournament for national teams affiliated with CONMEBOL. It was held in Ecuador from 12 March to 9 April 2011. Th ...

, being champion. A few months later he was again selected to play in the Brazil U-17 team, but this at a higher level in the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues ...

. During the competition he was linked with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. On 1 July 2012, Adryan played his first game for the

Brazilian Série A Brazilian commonly refers to: * Something of, from or relating to Brazil * Brazilian Portuguese, the dialect of the Portuguese language used mostly in Brazil * Brazilians, the people (citizens) of Brazil, or of Brazilian descent Brazilian may also ...

, against

Atlético Goianiense Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, and he scored in the 3–2

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

victory. On 16 September 2012, he scored a freekick at the age of 16 for the Flamengo first team to help earn Flamengo a draw against Grêmio.

Cagliari

On 22 January 2014, it was announced that Adryan would go on loan to

Cagliari Calcio Cagliari Calcio, commonly referred to as Cagliari (), is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. In the 2022-23 season, they compete in Serie B. As of 2021–22, the team is temporarily playing their home games at the 16,416-seat ...

for one-and-a-half seasons. He played as Cagliari's no. 32. He made his debut for Cagliari on 1 February in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

. Adryan played in the following four fixtures after making his debut, however he picked up a thigh injury against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...

on 23 February and had to be replaced by

Sebastian Eriksson Sebastian Anders Fredrik Eriksson (born 31 January 1989) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg. Club career On 23 January 2020, Eriksson joined Italian club Genoa. On 24 August 2020, ...

, after recovering from injury he played against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

on 2 March 2014, Under new owners and new management, Adryan was given the no. 10 shirt for the upcoming 2014–15 season.

Leeds United

On 30 August 2014, after speaking highly of Adryan,

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

president and former Cagliari owner

Massimo Cellino Massimo Cellino (; born 28 July 1956) is an Italian entrepreneur and football club owner. Through his family trust Eleonora Sport Ltd he is the owner of Italian club Brescia Calcio, and is the former owner of italian club Cagliari, and English cl ...

negotiated a deal with his former club to terminate Adryan's loan deal, taking him to the

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The g ...

club on a season-long loan with the option of a permanent move, with an agreed transfer price of around £3 million. Adryan was given the number 9 shirt for the 2014–15 season. Adryan made his Leeds debut as a substitute against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in a 2–1 loss on 17 October. He made his first Leeds start in the following game, in a 1–1 draw against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, providing an assist for teammate Souleymane Doukara's equaliser. He followed this up against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

with four key passes, two key dribbles and an assist. On 29 November of the same year, Adryan had perhaps his most memorable act: a spectacular

dive Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), a ...

after he was tackled by Johnny Russell in the match between Leeds and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, which Leeds won 2–0 at Elland Road. Russell was shown a

yellow card Yellow card may refer to: * Yellow card (sport), shown in many sports after a rules infraction or, by analogy, a serious warning in other areas * Yellowcard, an American alternative rock band * Yellow Card Scheme, a United Kingdom initiative conce ...

for the tackle, but on 12 January 2015, Adryan was "awarded" the "Fallon d'Floor"—a parody of the

Ballon d'Or The Ballon d'Or (; ) is an annual football award presented by French news magazine ''France Football'' since 1956. Between 2010 and 2015, in an agreement with FIFA, the award was temporarily merged with the FIFA World Player of the Year (fo ...

, which was awarded the same day—by users of

Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...

. Adryan received 32 percent of the vote, beating out competition from

Giancarlo González Giancarlo González Castro (born 8 February 1988) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga FPD club Alajuelense and the Costa Rica national team. Club career Early career González spent his youth career wit ...

, then of

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

, and Ballon d'Or winner

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

among others.

Nantes

On 26 June 2015, it was announced that Adryan had joined French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, a ...

in a season-long loan move.

Return to Flamengo

Sion

Adryan moved to Swiss club

FC Sion Football Club de Sion, commonly known as simply FC Sion or Sion, is a Swiss football team from the city of Sion. The club was founded in 1909, and play their home matches at the Stade Tourbillon. They have won the Swiss Super League twice, and ...

in July 2017 having agreed a contract until 2020. Following loans to Turkish club

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the Kadir Has Stadium in red and yellow kits. The team has won one Turkish Cup in 2008 and also fini ...

and Brazilian side

Avaí Avaí is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 milli ...

, Adryan agreed a contract extension with Sion in August 2021. He signed until the end of the 2021–22 season with the option of a further year.

Brescia

On 2 February 2023, Adryan joined

in the Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

International career

Adryan was a key player for Brazil U-17 team in the

victorious campaign. He played eight matches and scored three goals in the tournament and finished as champion. The young player has been called up by coach Émerson Ávila alongside

Lucas Piazón Lucas Domingues Piazon (born 20 January 1994) is a Brazilian professional association football, footballer who plays for Primeira Liga club S.C. Braga. He plays as a Forward (association football), second striker or a Winger (association footbal ...

as the biggest stars of Brazil U-17 team in the

. On 23 June 2011, Adryan scored the winning goal against Australia U-17 with a fine free-kick. On 26 June 2011, he scored the equaliser in the 90th minute to level Brazil U-17 with Ivory Coast U-17. In 2012, Adryan was called up to the Brazil U-20 where he impressed, this time in the Mediterranean International Cup, where the Brazil team were eliminated in the semi-final, but Adryan was named Mediterranean International Cup Player of the tournament.

Style of play

In 2012, he was included in the list of the 101 best players born after 1991 compiled by ''

Don Balón ''Don Balón'' is a Spanish weekly sports magazine specializing in Spanish and international football. The magazine was published in Barcelona between 1975 and 2011. It was distributed on five continents. Since 2011 ''Don Balón'' has been a full ...

''. In his homeland, Adryan is nicknamed ''herdeiro de Zico'' meaning 'heir of Zico' and ''il nuovo Zico'' (the new Zico). Adryan's style of play has been compared to that of Brazilian compatriot

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

, due to his skill and

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

ability whilst playing in the 'number 10' role. Adryan can also play as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. He is also renowned for being a free kick specialist.

Career statistics

Honours

Flamengo * Rio de Janeiro State League:

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

Brazil U-17 *

South American Under-17 Football Championship The South American U-17 Championship (; ) is a football competition held every two years for South American under-17 teams. The tournament was born in 1985 out of a need for a classification tournament for the newly created FIFA U-16 World Cup (now ...

Individual * Fallon d'Floor: 2014 *

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

Bronze Boot:

References

External links

*
Player profile
at Flamengo.com.br {{Brescia Calcio squad 1994 births Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Living people Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Brazil youth international footballers CR Flamengo footballers Cagliari Calcio players Leeds United F.C. players FC Nantes players FC Sion players Kayserispor footballers Avaí FC players Brescia Calcio players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Swiss Super League players Süper Lig players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Expatriate footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Switzerland Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate footballers in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey