Allan Marques Loureiro (born 8 January 1991), commonly known as Allan Marques or simply Allan (), is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

club

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. After starting out in the Madureira youth system in his home country, he joined Uruguayan club

Deportivo Maldonado Club Deportivo Maldonado is a football club from Maldonado, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División following their relegation from the Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American ...

, but later returned to Brazil and made his professional debut with

Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...

in 2009. Allan joined Italian club Udinese in 2012, and subsequently moved to fellow Serie A side

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

in 2015. He transferred to English side Everton in 2020, where he stayed for two years. At international level, he was a part of the Brazil under-20 side that won the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and later made his senior debut for Brazil in 2018; he was a member of the team that won the 2019 Copa América on home soil.

Club career

Madureira and Deportivo Maldonado

Allan was signed from Madureira by Uruguayan side

at 17 years of age for an undisclosed fee. However, he was later loaned out to

back in Brazil; he would not make an appearance for Maldonado.

Vasco da Gama

Allan moved to

once again still as a youth player, loaned from Deportivo Maldonado. A year after he played for their youth team, he was brought back and promoted to the first-team by coach Dorival Júnior, playing in many crucial games in the club's 2009 season to help the side win the Série B and secure promotion to the top-flight Série A, though he ultimately suffered an injury. Due to injury, Allan could not compete with Vasco da Gama neither in the

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

nor the

2010 Copa do Brasil The 2010 Copa do Brasil was the 22nd edition of the Copa do Brasil, starting on February 10 and ended on August 4. It was contested by 64 clubs, either qualified through their respective state championships (54) or by the Brazilian Football Confed ...

. After an initial recovery, he returned to the club's junior team to regain fitness before rejoining the first-team. He then returned to action in the last round of the Série A before the break for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing in the Copa da Hora friendly tournament. The club won the tournament, with Allan contributing to the title, also scoring a goal in a 3–2 victory over Coritiba.

Udinese

In June 2012, Allan signed for

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side Udinese for a reported fee of R$7 million from Deportivo Maldonado. He made his debut for Udinese at home at the Stadio Friuli against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, where he created an assist for teammate Andrea Lazzari's goal. In his first season in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, Allan played mostly as a

, recovering and distributing a large number of balls. Manager Francesco Guidolin played him in 36 games in the league out of 38 games, he proved one of the best bargains of the season, defying expectation and playing almost all games as a starter to help Udinese to finish in a surprise fifth-place position, securing qualification to next year's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. The following season the club finished 13th in the league in what was Francesco Guidolin's final season with the side. Despite this, Allan excelled in midfield, and scored his first goals for the club as his improvement in Italy continued. His calm and controlled performance in midfield also prompted future Udinese manager Andrea Stramaccioni to suggest that he was now one of the best young midfielders in Europe, comparable to Manchester United's Paul Pogba. In the 2014–15 season, Allan was to be the top ball-winner of all of Europe's top-five leagues with the most balls won.

Napoli

After reported interest from a number of other clubs, Allan signed for

for €10m plus bonuses in July 2015. In the 2015–16 season, Allan made his Napoli debut in a pre-season friendly against Lega Pro side FeralpiSalò, which Napoli won 5–2. He made his first Serie A debut for Napoli at

home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

against Sampdoria in the second matchday of the Serie A season, creating an assist for Gonzalo Higuaín with a through-ball that the latter converted with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box, making the scoreline 2–0. Allan was later substituted in the second half for David López. Allan would then receive a start in Napoli's third game of the season, a 2–2 away draw with

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

, scoring an equalizer in the 78th minute after converting a pass from captain Marek Hamšík. On 17 September 2015, Allan came off the bench in the 62nd minute against Belgian club Club Brugge in his first ever Europa League game, assisting José Callejón's second goal of the game with a through-ball just minutes after coming on. The match finished 5–0 for Napoli, the club's largest European win and the joint-largest margin of defeat for Brugge, equalling its 6–1 defeat at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

in 1988. Allan would go on to score once again and provide another assist in a 5–0 win against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, only three days after the Brugge victory on 20 September, giving manager Maurizio Sarri trust in him for his precise passing and defensive work. On 26 September, Allan scored a goal against defending champions Juventus, with excellent passing and an impressive overall game in a 2–1 home win. On 4 October, Allan would score the opening goal in a 0–4 away rout of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in a swift counter-attacking move, where the Brazilian went one-on-one with Milan goalkeeper Diego López. In the 2016–17 season, Allan had 29 Serie A appearances (1 goal, 5 assists), 8 Champions League appearances culminating in an 86.6% pass completion rate, an average of 2.4 successful tackles per game and he also averaged one key pass (one that led to a goalscoring opportunity) per game. In the 2017–18 season, Allan played in all 38 Serie A matches, scoring four goals. During that season, Allan extended his contract with Napoli until 2023. In the following season, he featured in 33 Serie A matches and reached the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals with Napoli. In the 2019–20 season, he played in the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League round of 16 home match against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, which ended 1–1, then he won the 2019–20 Coppa Italia against Juventus, his only silverware with Napoli.

Everton

On 5 September 2020, English club Everton signed Allan for around £21.7m on a three-year deal, to be reunited with former Napoli manager

Carlo Ancelotti Carlo Ancelotti (; born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Brazil national team. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest ...

. He made his debut the following week in a 1–0 win away to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. Allan suffered an injury to his hamstring on 16 December during an away game against Leicester City, he was replaced in the 41st minute by Andre Gomes; Everton won the game 0–2. Allan was ruled out for the remainder of Everton's games in 2020. He returned to the starting eleven on 1 March against Southampton playing the full 90 minutes, Everton won the game 1–0. In March 2022, against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

, Allan was sent off following a tackle on Allan Saint-Maximin. The Brazilian was also given a three-match ban. Everton later went on to win the game 1–0 due to an Alex Iwobi winner in the 99th minute.

Al Wahda

On 27 September 2022, Allan signed a two-year deal with Emirati club Al Wahda.

International career

Under-20

He was called up by Brazilian under-20 coach Ney Franco on 20 August 2011, where he impressed enough at Vasco da Gama to earn a call-up for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Brazil's U-20 World Cup-winning side also featured the likes of

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

, Philippe Coutinho,

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), also known mononymously as Casemiro , is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the ...

and

Danilo Danilo is a given name found in Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Serbian. Notable people with the name Danilo include: Athletes Footballers * Danilo (footballer, born 1979), Brazilian footballer Danilo de Andrade * Danilo (footballer, born ...

, as well as future Napoli teammates

Gabriel In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam), Gabriel ( ) is an archangel with the power to announce God's will to mankind, as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. Many Chris ...

and Bruno Uvini. Brazil made it to the tournament final, beating

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

3–2 in extra time and winning the U20 World Cup for the fifth time.

Senior

Although born in Brazil, Allan holds dual Portuguese-Brazilian nationality, making him eligible to play for

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. Allan also 'has a distant Italian relative' which qualifies him for an Italian passport and thus the Italy national team. Sky Sport Italia and TV Luna report that he has been asked 'to switch allegiances to the Azzurri' by national coach Roberto Mancini. Manager Tite, on 26 October 2018, named Allan to the Brazilian squad that will face

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in friendlies the following month. However, because these were only exhibition matches, Allan still also remained eligible to play for Portugal and Italy at the time. He made his senior international debut in the former match, held in London on 16 November, which ended in a 1–0 victory to Brazil. In May 2019, Allan was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the 2019 Copa América on home soil. On 7 July, he come on as an injury-time substitute in Brazil's 3–1 victory over

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

of the tournament, at the

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium (, ; named after the Maracanã River), officially known as Jornalista Mário Filho Stadium (, ; , named after Mário Filho), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Located in the Maracanã neighbor ...

Style of play

Allan operates primarily as a

or as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

in the '' mezzala'' role, and is equally comfortable at playing both in an attacking and defensive midfield role; he is also capable of being deployed in a deeper role as a playmaker. As such, he has also been labelled a box-to-box midfielder in the media. He is also capable of playing on the left or right flank, and has even been deployed as a full-back on occasion. Normally deployed as a holding midfielder in front of the back-line, Allan is known as a dynamic, physically strong, tenacious and energetic right-footed midfielder, with good ball-winning abilities. He also possesses good technique,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills, pace and good long passing ability, which enables him to start attacking plays after winning back possession. He has been described as a complete and tactically versatile midfielder, who is different from traditional defensive midfielders, due to his reputation for dribbling past defenders and passing the ball through the legs of an opponent, a move known as the ''

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

''.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Vasco da Gama *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () 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 it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Campeonato Brasileiro Série B The Campeonato Brasileiro Série B (commonly referred to as the Brasileirão Série B, the Série B or the Brazilian Série B to distinguish it from the Italian and the Ecuadorian Serie B), and currently officially called Brasileirão Série B ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Napoli *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2019–20 Botafogo *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Brazil U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Brazil *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links

ogol.com.br
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allan 1991 births Living people Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Madureira Esporte Clube players CR Vasco da Gama players Udinese Calcio players SSC Napoli players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Serie A players 2019 Copa América players Copa América–winning players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Everton F.C. players Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Al Wahda FC players UAE Pro League players Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Copa Libertadores–winning players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players