Matheus Fellipe Costa Pereira (born 5 May 1996) 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 an attacking midfielder or

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Al Hilal.

Club career

Sporting CP

Born in

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is a state in Southeastern Brazil. It ranks as the second most populous, the third by gross domestic product (GDP), and the fourth largest by area in the country. The state's capital and largest city, Belo Horizonte (literally ...

, Pereira moved to Portugal at a young age, joining

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

's youth system at the age of 14. On 18 January 2014, whilst still a junior, he made his debut as a senior with

the B team The B Team is a global nonprofit initiative co-founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz. It advocates for business practices that are more centered on humanity and the climate. History In 2013, a group of leaders came together following ...

, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Cristian Ponde in a 1–1 away draw against

C.D. Trofense Clube Desportivo Trofense (), commonly known as Trofense, is a Portuguese football club based in Trofa, Portugal. Founded in 1930, it plays in Segunda Liga, holding home games at '' Estádio do Clube Desportivo Trofense'', with a capacity of 5,0 ...

in the Segunda Liga. He scored his first goal in the competition on 7 March of the following year, contributing to a 4–3 home win over

C.D. Tondela Clube Desportivo de Tondela () is a Portuguese professional football club that plays in Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. They are based in the town of Tondela, located in Viseu District, and play in the Estádio João Cardoso ...

. Early into the 2015–16 season, Pereira was first called to the main squad by newly appointed manager

Jorge Jesus Jorge Fernando Pinheiro de Jesus (; born 24 July 1954) is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe. He started his career with Sporting CP, going on to play for 12 ...

. His first competitive appearance took place on 1 October, as he started in a 1–1 draw at Beşiktaş J.K. in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Late in the same month he scored his first goals as a professional, helping defeat

U.D. Vilafranquense União Desportiva Vilafranquense is a Portuguese football club from Vila Franca de Xira, Lisbon District. It currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second tier of the Portuguese football league system, following its promotion in 2019. The oth ...

in the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

( 4–0, away) and KF Skënderbeu Korçë in the Europa League (5–1, home), being subsequently selected for the latter competition's team of the week. Pereira was loaned to fellow

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

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Está ...

in the 2017–18 campaign. He scored seven league goals during his spell (eight overall), helping them to a sixth-place finish. On 31 August 2018, the last day of the summer transfer window, Pereira joined 1. FC Nürnberg on loan until the end of the season after criticising

José Peseiro José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro (born 4 April 1960) is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the manager of the Nigeria national team. After an unassuming career as a player, he went on to coach sever ...

's choice of not selecting him to the first match against

Moreirense F.C. Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, in Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joa ...

on social media. He made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut 16 days later, playing 61 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against

SV Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

. Pereira scored his first league goal on 30 March 2019, helping the hosts defeat

FC Augsburg Fußball-Club Augsburg 1907 e. V., commonly known as FC Augsburg () or Augsburg, is a German football club based in Augsburg, Bavaria. FC Augsburg play in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German football league system. The team was founded as ...

3–0. He was nominated for the Bundesliga Rookie of the Season award, but his team suffered relegation after finishing last.

West Bromwich Albion

On 8 August 2019, Pereira joined

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

on an initial

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-long loan with a view to a permanent move. He scored his first goal in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

on 28 September, in a 2–0 away win against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

. On 20 June 2020, after the player had appeared in the required number of matches, a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

was triggered, obligating the club into Pereira’s purchase. The following month, he won the Supporters’ Player of the Season award after collecting 65% of the votes. Despite the buyout clause being met months earlier, it took until 17 August 2020 for Pereira to be officially announced as an Albion player, eventually signing a four-year contract. To ensure the player’s focus remained on the field, the board decided to leave the negotiations until after the season had ended. Pereira made his

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 ...

debut on 13 September 2020, playing the entire 0–3 home loss against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. He scored his first goal six days later, through a

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either direct or indirect, distinguished as follows: ...

in a 5–2 away defeat to Everton. On 3 April 2021, Pereira scored a brace in first-half stoppage time in an eventual 5–2 win at

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

; this sealed Albion's first victory at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

since 1978, and handed

Thomas Tuchel Thomas Tuchel (; born 29 August 1973) is a German professional football manager and former player who last managed Premier League club Chelsea. Born in Krumbach, Tuchel retired at age 25 after a chronic knee cartilage injury; in 2000, he b ...

his first loss as the opposition's head coach. On 9 May, his tenth goal of the season – becoming the first club player to get on double digits since

Saido Berahino Saido Berahino (born 4 August 1993) is a Burundian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol and captains the Burundi national team. Having fled his native Burundi as a child, he received pol ...

in 2014–15 – amounted to nothing because his team lost 3–1 at

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 ...

and confirmed their relegation. On 1 August 2021, recently appointed manager

Valérien Ismaël Valérien Alexandre Ismaël (born 28 September 1975) is a professional football coach and a former professional player who most recently managed Turkish club Beşiktaş. During his playing career, Ismaël played for Racing Strasbourg, Crystal ...

announced that Pereira would leave the club before the end of the transfer window, accusing him of "not being committed". The following day, the latter released a statement on his social media accounts, confirming that he wished to leave but also expressing anger at the former's comments, branding them "disrespectful".

Al Hilal

On 6 August 2021, Pereira agreed to a deal with

Al Hilal SFC Al Hilal Saudi Football Club ( ar, نادي الهلال السعودي), simply known as Al Hilal, is a professional multi-sports club based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their Association football, football team competes in the Saudi Professional L ...

for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for the club the following 6 February, in a 6–1 rout of

Al Jazira Club Al Jazira Club is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that currently competes in the UAE Pro League. History Al-Jazira was established in 1974 as a merger between ''Khalidiyah'' and ''Al Bateen''. The club struggled to st ...

in the second round of the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

. Pereira was loaned to

Al Wahda FC Al Wahda Football Club ( ar, نادي الوحدة لكرة القدم) is an Emirati professional football club based in Abu Dhabi, that competes in the UAE Pro League. The club was founded in 1974 and plays its home games at the Al Nahyan Stadi ...

of the

UAE Pro League The UAE Pro League ( ar, دوري المحترفين الإماراتي), known for sponsorship reasons as the ADNOC Pro League, is the top professional football league in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The first team to win the title was Al O ...

in January 2023, until June.

Career statistics

Honours

Al Hilal *

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

: 2021–22 *

Saudi Super Cup The Saudi Super Cup ( ar, كأس السوبر السعودي) is an annual super cup football match organised by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Founded in 2013 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2022� ...

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 ...

AFC Champions League The AFC Champions League (abbreviated as ACL) is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation, and contested by Asia's top-division football clubs. It is the most prestigious club competition ...

References

External links

*
Portuguese League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pereira, Matheus 1996 births Living people Brazilian footballers Footballers from Belo Horizonte Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Sporting CP B players Sporting CP footballers G.D. Chaves players Bundesliga players 1. FC Nürnberg players Premier League players English Football League players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Saudi Professional League players Al Hilal SFC players UAE Pro League players Al Wahda FC players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates