Lucas Eduardo dos Santos João (born 4 September 1993), known as Lucas João, is a 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

club

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

and the Angola national team. After starting out at

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, he went on to spend the vast majority of his career in the English Championship, with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

and Reading. Lucas João made his full debut for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 2015, before changing his allegiance to

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

in 2022.

Club career

Nacional

Born in

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

of Angolan descent, Lucas João started playing football with amateurs Beira Mar Atlético Clube Almada. In 2011 he signed with

C.D. Nacional Clube Desportivo Nacional, commonly known as Nacional and sometimes Nacional da Madeira (), is a Portuguese football club based in Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Founded on 8 December 1910, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, Portug ...

, where he spent his last year as a junior. Lucas João made his senior debut with lowly

SC Mirandela Sport Clube de Mirandela ''(Mirandela)'' is a Portuguese football club based in the city of Mirandela, in northeast Portugal (Trás-os-Montes region). Background Mirandela currently plays in the Segunda Divisão Zona Norte, which is the third t ...

, on loan. He returned to the

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

ns for the 2013–14 season, making his

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, ...

debut on 15 September 2013 against

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a football club based in Arouca, Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,000-seat capacity. History Founde ...

after coming on as a 78th-minute substitute, in a 0–1 home loss. Lucas João scored his first goal(s) in the top flight on 11 January 2015, his brace helping defeat

Boavista F.C. Boavista Futebol Clube, commonly known as Boavista (), is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Porto. Founded on 1 August 1903 by British entrepreneurs and Portuguese textile workers (thus the "FC" being appended – the British way as oppos ...

2–1 at home. He netted a further six – seven overall – during the campaign, as his team finished in seventh position.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 31 July 2015, Lucas João joined former teammate Marco Matias at English club

, agreeing to a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut in the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

on 8 August, replacing

Atdhe Nuhiu Atdhe Nuhiu (; born 29 July 1989) is a Kosovan professional footballer who plays as a forward for Austrian Bundesliga club SC Rheindorf Altach. Club career SV Ried On 31 August 2009, on the deadline day, Nuhiu completed a transfer to SV Ried o ...

for the last 13 minutes of a 2–0 win against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. He scored his first goal three days later, in a 4–1 victory over

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, also at Hillsborough. Lucas João was one of three players on target on 27 October 2015 as Wednesday defeated

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 ...

3–0 at home to reach the fifth round of the League Cup. On 30 January 2017, he moved to fellow league team

on loan until the end of the season.

Reading

On 6 August 2019, Lucas João joined

on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee three days after scoring against them at the service of Sheffield Wednesday. The first goal for his new club came on his second Championship appearance, but in a 2–1 away loss to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

. On 5 September 2020, Lucas João scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 3–1 win against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

. He ended the league season as the fifth highest goalscorer with 19, as the Royals missed the

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

by one place.

International career

Portugal

Lucas João won five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

at youth level, including three for the under-21s. He was first called up to the full side on 6 November 2015, with manager Fernando Santos picking him ahead of

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. He made his debut in the former match, featuring 18 minutes in the 1–0 loss in

Krasnodar Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...

Angola

In March 2022, Lucas João was selected by

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

for friendlies with

Guinea Bissau Guinea-Bissau ( ; pt, Guiné-Bissau; ff, italic=no, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫 𞤄𞤭𞤧𞤢𞥄𞤱𞤮, Gine-Bisaawo, script=Adlm; Mandinka: ''Gine-Bisawo''), officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau ( pt, República da Guiné-Bissau, links=no ) ...

and

Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea ( es, Guinea Ecuatorial; french: Guinée équatoriale; pt, Guiné Equatorial), officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( es, link=no, República de Guinea Ecuatorial, french: link=no, République de Guinée équatoria ...

to be held later that month.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual *

EFL Championship Player of the Month The EFL Championship Player of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player adjudged the best for each month of the season in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Originally named the Football ...

: February 2022

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lucas Joao 1993 births Living people Citizens of Angola through descent Portuguese sportspeople of Angolan descent Portuguese footballers Angolan footballers Footballers from Lisbon Association football forwards Primeira Liga players Segunda Divisão players C.D. Nacional players SC Mirandela players English Football League players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Reading F.C. players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers Angola international footballers Dual internationalists (football) Portuguese expatriate footballers Angolan expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England