Francisco Santos da Silva Júnior (born 18 January 1992) is a Bissau-Guinean 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 midfielder. He represented Portugal internationally at under-19 and under-21 level before being called up to the Guinea-Bissau senior team in 2017. Originally from Guinea-Bissau, he was signed by Portuguese side Benfica whilst with Benfica de Bissau in 2007. He signed with English club Everton in February 2012, who loaned him out to

Vitesse Arnhem Vitesse may refer to: * Vitesse Models, a diecast model car company * Vitesse (band), Dutch rock band * Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse, a car * Rover 216 Vitesse, a car * Rover 3500 Vitesse, a car * Rover 800 Vitesse, a car * Triumph Vites ...

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county), Norway, today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). But since th ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

, and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. He joined

on a free transfer in February 2016 and was an unused substitute in the 2018 Norwegian Football Cup final. After two seasons, he joined

Vendsyssel FF Vendsyssel Forenede Fodboldklubber is a professional football club based in Hjørring, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of Danish football. The club plays home matches at Nord Energi Arena, which has a capaci ...

(Denmark) in December 2018. He spent the 2019–20 season with Israeli club Hapoel Haifa and then joined Romanian club

Gaz Metan Mediaș GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (russian: ГАЗ or Го́рьковский автомоби́льный заво́д, , Gorky Automobile Plant) is a Russian automotive manufacturer located in Nizhny Novgorod, formerly known as Gorky (Го� ...

in October 2020. He switched to

Sepsi OSK Sepsi may refer to: *László Sepsi (born 1986), Romanian footballer of Hungarian descent *Sepsi-78, a football club from Seinäjoki, Finland *ACS Sepsi SIC ACS Sepsi SIC Sfântu Gheorghe or commonly Sepsi SIC is a women's basketball professional ...

in May 2022 and won the

Supercupa României The Supercupa României ( en, Romanian Supercup) is a Romanian football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994, ...

and

Cupa României The Cupa României ( en, Romanian Cup) is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. I ...

with the club.

Club career

Early career

Júnior started his club career in Bissau with

Sport Bissau e Benfica Sport Bissau e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica de Bissau, is a football club from Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, that plays in the Campeonato Nacional da Guiné-Bissau, the top flight of Bissau-Guinean football. Benfica Bissau is considered to the t ...

in Guinea-Bissau at youth level, he was spotted by talent scouts from

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

and Sporting CP but soon transferred to Benfica. His professional career began with Benfica in 2008, and he was contracted to the club until 2013 as there was a clause in the contract that automatically converted Júnior's youth contract into a professional contract. Júnior was loaned to

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria, commonly known as União de Leiria (), is a Portuguese football club based in Leiria, central Portugal. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Campeonato de Portugal, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. M ...

in 2011 but never showed up to play for Leiria, and it was found that the player had been training with

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

unbeknownst to Benfica. Benfica's president Luís Filipe Vieira told Manchester City to return the player to Benfica and sent the English club a plane ticket for Júnior's return. Vieira also threatened to report Manchester City to

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

. In July 2011, Manchester-based media reported that Júnior was on trial with Manchester City, playing with their Development XI team in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against Altrincham. Guinea-Bissauan sports agent Catió Balde and Anglo-Iranian lawyer Kia Joorabchian intervened. Manchester City were forced to release the player. Manchester City compensated Benfica with €1.5million.

Everton

In February 2012, Júnior signed professional terms with Everton having signed on a free transfer. In an interview with Guinea-Bissauan website ''Bola na Bantaba'', Júnior stated that he signed for Everton because he "was tired of the impasse between Benfica and Manchester City and businessmen who wanted to win more than they should". He made his debut for the "Toffees" under

David Moyes David William Moyes ( ; born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional football coach and former player. He is currently the manager of Premier League club West Ham United. He was previously the manager of Preston North End, Everton, Manches ...

in a 2–1 League Cup defeat to Leeds United at

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 ...

; he was taken off for Phil Neville at half-time. On 1 September 2013, Júnior signed with Dutch Eredivisie side

, in a season-long loan deal. This loan deal was later cancelled due to a knee injury, and a new five-month loan deal with Norwegian

Tippeliga Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

side

was signed in February 2014. The loan deal was later extended by one month and expired in August. In December 2014 he began training with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

leaders

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

under Ronny Deila, his former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

at Strømsgodset. On 26 March 2015, Júnior joined League One side

on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. "Valiants" manager Rob Page said that "I'd like to thank Roberto Martínez for his co-operation with getting this deal over the line." He started away at Leyton Orient two days later, before being taken off for Sam Johnson after goalkeeper

Chris Neal Christopher Michael Neal (born 23 October 1985) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club AFC Fylde. He began his career at Preston North End, making his English Football League debut in February 2005, having p ...

got sent off on 54 minutes. This proved to be his only appearance for the club as he picked up an injury and was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. He returned to League One with newly- relegated

after joining on an initial one-month loan in July 2015. He made his debut for the "Latics" on 8 August in a 2–0 defeat to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

at the Ricoh Arena. His loan was extended until 16 January after being described as a "revelation" by manager

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the current manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Ath ...

. However, he was forced to return to Everton in December for treatment on a long-standing groin problem.

Strømsgodset

In February 2016, he signed a two-year contract with the Norwegian Tippeligaen club

. He scored one goal in 24 appearances in the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

season, as the club posted an eighth-place finish. He played 29 of the club's 30 league games in the

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 ...

season as Strømsgodset finished in fourth place, missing out on a UEFA Europa League qualification place by a single point. Strømsgodset reached the Norwegian Football Cup final, however, he was not selected by head coach Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen and was instead an unused substitute in what finished as 4–1 defeat to Rosenborg at the Ullevaal Stadion.

Vendsyssel

On 14 December 2018, Júnior signed a contract with Danish Superligaen club Vendsyssel to keep him at the Hjørring Stadium until summer 2021.

Jens Berthel Askou Jens Berthel Askou (born 19 August 1982) is a Danish football coach and former professional player. He is in charge of AC Horsens. Askou has played for a number of Danish clubs before moving abroad, first to Turkish club Kasımpaşa and then t ...

's VFF finished in the relegation play-off places at the end of the 2018–19 season and then lost their top-flight status with a 4–3

aggregate Aggregate or aggregates may refer to: Computing and mathematics * collection of objects that are bound together by a root entity, otherwise known as an aggregate root. The aggregate root guarantees the consistency of changes being made within the ...

defeat to Lyngby.

Hapoel Haifa

Júnior joined Israeli Premier League side Hapoel Haifa in August 2019, signing a contract to run for one season with the option of a second; he said that

Nir Bitton Nir Bitton (or Biton, he, ניר ביטון; born 30 October 1991) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or as a defensive midfielder for Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv and Israel national team which he ...

recommended he find a club in Israel.

Haim Silvas Haim Silvas ( he, חיים סילבס; born November 21, 1975) is a retired Israeli soccer player, and the current manager of the Israeli Premier League club Hapoel Hadera. He is best known for his years at Maccabi Haifa, where he scored a histo ...

's "Sharks" were in sixth-place when the 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel, with Júnior having made 28 appearances at the Sammy Ofer Stadium.

Romania

On 12 October 2020, Júnior signed a two-year contract with Romanian Liga I club

. He made 24 appearances in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season and played 23 games in the 2021–22 campaign, with the club being relegated in summer 2022 after being deducted 42 points due to financial reasons. He remained in Liga I however, after signing with

in May 2022. He entered the

2022 Supercupa României The 2022 Supercupa Romăniei was the 24th edition of the Supercupa României, an annual football super cup contested by the winners of the previous season's Liga I and Cupa României competitions. It was the first Supercupa României edition to use ...

as an 83rd-minute substitute, helping Sepsi to beat CFR Cluj 2–1 at the Stadionul Francisc von Neuman. On 24 May 2023, he was an unused substitute in the

final as Sepsi defeated

Universitatea Cluj Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply as U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I, the first ...

on penalties. He did not feature after October 2023 and left the club in February 2024.

International career

Júnior was called up for Portugal under-19 team in January 2011 for the four-team round-robin friendly La Manga Club tournament. His debut came against Slovakia, having replaced

Rúben Pinto Rúben Rafael de Melo Silva Pinto (born 24 April 1992) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Hungarian club FC Fehérvár as a midfielder. Club career Benfica Born in Odivelas, Lisbon metropolitan area, Pinto joined S.L. Benfica' ...

in the 73rd minute. He came on as a substitute in the 55th minute in the game against Norway and he helped Portugal retain their title, starting in the 3–1 win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the tournament's final game. After leaving Benfica he rejected the chance to join the Portuguese under-20 team and told Guinea-Bissaun media in June 2012 that he wants to represent Guinea-Bissau. The Guinea-Bissau national team called him up in February 2012 to face Cameroon in the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country. Qualified nations ...

campaign, but he did not receive notification in time. In October 2012, he played for Portugal's under 21 side in a friendly against Ukraine. He was selected by

Baciro Candé Baciro Candé (born 18 March 1948 in Catió) is a Bissau-Guinean professional football player and manager. Career Candé played professional football in Portugal's Segunda Liga as a defender with Estrela da Amadora and Amora. After he retire ...

in the Guinea-Bissau squad for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

. He made his debut on the opening match of the tournament, in a 1–1 draw with hosts Gabon on 14 January 2017. He announced his retirement from international football on 25 March 2019.

Career statistics

International

Honours

Strømsgodset * Norwegian Football Cup runner-up:

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Sepsi OSK *

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

References

External links