John Anthony Mercado Cuero (born 3 June 2002) is an Ecuadorian 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 winger for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

AVS Futebol SAD AVS Futebol SAD is a Portuguese association football club currently playing in the Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of Portuguese football league system. They are based in the town of Aves (Santo Tirso), Vila das Aves and they play in Estádio do ...

Club career

Born in Guayaquil, Mercado agreed to a contract with

Athletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (commonly known as Athletico and formerly known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded on March 26, 1924. The team ...

in July 2019, but only moved to his new side in August 2020, after his 18th birthday. After playing for the under-20s, he impressed manager

Alberto Valentim Alberto Valentim do Carmo Neto (born 22 March 1975) is a Brazilian football manager and former player who played as a right back. Playing career Brazil Born in Oliveira, Minas Gerais, Alberto started his professional career at Guarani of São P ...

in 2022, and was promoted to the first team squad. Mercado made his professional debut on 2 March 2022, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Léo Cittadini Leonardo "Léo" Cittadini (born 27 February 1994) is a Brazilian Association football, footballer who plays for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port F.C., Shanghai Port, on loan from Esporte Clube Bahia, Bahia. Club career Guarani Born in Rio ...

in a 0–2 away loss against

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 ...

, for the year's

Recopa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...

. In July, Athletico sent him on loan to Série B club

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

until the end of the season. In January 2023, Mercado terminated his contract with Athletico Paranaense and moved to Portugal, joining Liga Portugal 2 side Vilafranquense. At the end of the 2022–23 season, Vilafranquense relocated to

Vila das Aves Aves is an industrial town and civil parish (freguesia) in northern Portugal. The population in 2011 was 8,458, in an area of 6.16 km².

and was rebranded as

. On 18 December 2023, he extended his contract with AVS until 2027.

International career

Mercado represented Ecuador at under-15 level in the

2017 South American U-15 Championship The 2017 South American Under-15 Football Championship was the 8th edition of the South American Under-15 Football Championship, the biennial international youth football championship organised by the CONMEBOL for the men's under-15 national team ...

, and at under-17 level in the

2019 South American U-17 Championship The 2019 South American U-17 Championship ( es, Campeonato Sudamericano Sub-17 Perú 2019, pt-BR, Campeonato Sul-Americano Sub-17 Peru 2019) was the 18th edition of the South American U-17 Championship, the biennial international youth football c ...

and the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Athletico Paranaense profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercado, John 2002 births Living people Footballers from Guayaquil Ecuadorian men's footballers Men's association football wingers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Liga Portugal 2 players Club Athletico Paranaense players Centro Sportivo Alagoano players U.D. Vilafranquense players AVS Futebol SAD players Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal