Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior (born 14 January 1999), known as Emerson Royal or simply Emerson, 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 a full-back, wing-back or

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

and the Brazil national team.

Early life

Emerson was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

and was raised in

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

. He got his nickname "Royal" as his uncle said he resembled the mascot of the Royal-branded

gelatin dessert Gelatin desserts (also Jelly or Jello) are desserts made with a sweetened and flavoured processed collagen product ( gelatin). This kind of dessert was first recorded as jelly by Hannah Glasse in her 18th-century book '' The Art of Cookery'' ...

sold in Brazil.

Club career

Ponte Preta

Emerson joined Ponte Preta's youth setup in 2014, after notably representing

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

and Grêmio. After appearing as an unused substitute in some matches of the

2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 60th season of the Série A, the top level of professional football in Brazil, and the 13th edition in a double round-robin since its establishment in 2003. The season began on 15 May 2016 and ended ...

, he made his senior debut on 22 February 2017, replacing injured

Artur Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). Ot ...

in a 2–2

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

away draw against Linense. Despite being booked and conceding a penalty, he was given his first start three days later, in a 1–0 home defeat of São Bernardo. Emerson made his Série A debut on 5 November 2017, replacing injured John Kleber in a 2–0 loss at

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

. He contributed with three league appearances during the campaign, as his side suffered relegation. Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2018 season, Emerson became a regular starter for ''Macaca'', making 14 appearances in the

2018 Campeonato Paulista The 2018 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 117th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams are drawn, with seeding, into four groups o ...

. On 2 April 2018, he scored his first professional goal, the winning one in the

Campeonato Paulista do Interior The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and ty ...

final against

Mirassol Mirassol is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. The city is located in the northern part of the state, 453 km from the city of São Paulo and 15 km from São José do Rio Preto. Mirassol has 60,303 inhabitants (IBGE/2020). ...

Atlético Mineiro

On 27 April 2018, Emerson signed a five-year deal with

Atlético Mineiro 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 ...

, for a rumoured fee of R$5 million. As a part of the deal,

Danilo Barcelos Danilo Carvalho Barcelos (born 17 August 1991), known as Danilo Barcelos, is a Brazilian Association football, footballer who plays for Ceará Sporting Club, Ceará. As either a Defender (association football)#Full-back, left back or a midfielde ...

moved in the opposite direction on loan. Emerson made his debut for the club on 19 May 2018, shortly after turning 19, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win over rivals Cruzeiro. Initially a backup to

Patric Patric may refer to: * PATRIC, the Pathosystems Resource Integration Center, a bacterial infectious disease information system * Patric (singer) (born 1947), full name Patrick Martin, French singer * Patric (footballer, born 1987), full name Ande ...

, he ended the year with 23 league appearances. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 30 September, netting his team's third in a 5–2 home routing of

Sport Sport pertains to any form of Competition, competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and Skill, skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to specta ...

Real Betis and Barcelona

On 31 January 2019, Atlético announced the transfer of Emerson to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern 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 ci ...

, effective as of July 2019, for €12.7 million. The deal consisted of a joint financial operation between Barcelona and fellow

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

, in which each club paid half of the transfer fee and retained a percentage of Emerson's economic rights. He was to become a Betis player in July 2019, with Barcelona holding the option of reacquiring him for €6 million in 2021. Emerson initially joined Betis on loan from Atlético for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, during which period he made seven appearances for the club. He then became a regular starter for the Andalusians, and scored his first goal abroad on 27 September 2019, but in a 1–5 loss to

Villarreal Villarreal ( ca-valencia , Vila-real) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's ...

. He scored 3 goals and added 6 assists that season in 34 appearances for Betis, only missing 3

games. On 2 June 2021, Barcelona exercised their option to bring back Emerson for three seasons by paying Betis €9 million.

Tottenham Hotspur

On the final day of the 2021 summer transfer window, Tottenham signed Emerson on a five-year deal for a reported £25.8 million transfer fee. His debut was in the

away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

which Tottenham lost 3–0 on 11 September. On 3 April 2022, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in a 5–1 home win against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

. On October 1, 2022, during the second half of Tottenham's Premier League away game against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, Royal received a straight red card for his tackle on

Gabriel Martinelli Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (born 18 June 2001), known as Gabriel Martinelli, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Arsenal and the Brazil national team. Born and raised in Guarulhos, Martinelli began h ...

. The team went on to lose 3–1 in the

North London derby The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is c ...

. On 28 March 2023, the club announced he would undergo surgery on a knee injury he sustained on international duty with Brazil. On August 13 2024, Emerson Royal scored a drilled shot from outside the box to secure a 2-2 draw against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

on the opening game of the 2023-2024

season. Due to a large amount of injuries at the club, Emerson filled in as a starter at

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

and

as well as his natural

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

position throughout the first half of the season, widely impressing with his displays. On January 22 2024, it was reported that

had rejected a £20 million bid from Saudi club

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

for Emerson .

International career

Emerson was called up to the Brazil under-20 team for the

2017 Toulon Tournament The 2017 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 45ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 45th edition of the Toulon Tournament. The tournament was named after Maurice Revello, who started the tournament in 1967 a ...

. He was the first-choice right-back at the

2019 South American U-20 Championship The 2019 South American U-20 Championship was the 29th edition of the South American U-20 Championship ( es, CONMEBOL Sudamericano Sub-20, pt, CONMEBOL Sul-Americano Sub-20), the biennial international youth football championship organised by C ...

and the

2019 Toulon Tournament The 2019 Toulon Tournament (officially french: 47ème Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) was the 47th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 1 to 15 June 2019. England w ...

, having won the latter with Brazil's under-23 side. Emerson made his senior international debut for

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 ...

on 19 November 2019, coming off the bench in a 3–0 victory over

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. On 11 June 2021, Emerson was called up by manager Tite for the

2021 Copa América The 2021 Copa América was the 47th edition of the Copa América, the international men's football championship organised by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament took place in Brazil from 13 June to 10 July 2021. The tour ...

. He made his tournament debut on 17 June, playing the last six minutes in a 4–0 thrashing of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

in Brazil's second group match. Ten days later, he was given his first start as he played the full match in a 1–1 draw in their final group stage match against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

. On 10 July, he played in the final, after coming on in the 76th minute in their 0–1 defeat against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Ponte Preta *

: 2018 Brazil U23 *

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Brazil *

Copa América The Copa América ( en, America Cup) or CONMEBOL Copa América, known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship (''Campeonato Sudamericano de Fútbol'' in Spanish and ''Campeonato Sul-Americano de Futebol'' in Portuguese), is the t ...

runner-up:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual *

Best XI:

References

External links

Profile
at the Tottenham Hotspur F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal, Emerson 1999 births Living people People from Americana, São Paulo Footballers from São Paulo (state) Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players La Liga players Premier League players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Clube Atlético Mineiro players FC Barcelona players Real Betis players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Brazil men's international footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England 2021 Copa América players