Matheus França de Oliveira (born 1 April 2004) 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 A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

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

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 Crystal Palace.

Club career

Early career

França arrived at

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

at the age of 12, after being one of the highlights of Olaria. At Flamengo youth team he has been considered, alongside Lázaro, one of the club's greatest young players after Vinícius Júnior.

Flamengo

França debuted in the

's professional team on 6 December 2021 in a

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian"), and also known as Brasileirão Assaí due to sponsorship with Assaí Atacadista, is a Br ...

match against Santos at

Maracanã Stadium Maracanã Stadium ( pt, Estádio do Maracanã, standard Brazilian Portuguese: , local pronunciation: ), officially named Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho (), is an association football stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium is part o ...

, he replaced Éverton Ribeiro on the 78th minute. He had a €200 million release clause in his Flamengo contract. On 25 January 2022, Flamengo extended França's contract until 30 April 2027. On 23 February 2023, França extended his contract with Flamengo until 31 December 2028.

Crystal Palace

On 1 August 2023, it was reported that Flamengo negotiated França's potential transfer to

club Crystal Palace, for a reported fee around €20 million (about R$104 million), plus €5m in bonuses. On 5 August, França officially joined Crystal Palace on a five-year contract. On 21 October, he made his debut for the club in a 4–0 loss 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 ...

. França made his first start for the club on 4 January in a 0–0 draw with Everton in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

; he was voted man of the match by Palace supporters following his performance. On 24 February, he registered his first goal contribution for the club in a 3–0 win against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

, assisting

Jordan Ayew Jordan Pierre Ayew (born 11 September 1991) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Crystal Palace and the Ghana national team. He is the son of former Ghana captain Abedi Pele and brother of fellow players And ...

's goal; he additionally won a penalty which was subsequently scored by

Jean-Philippe Mateta Jean-Philippe Mateta (born 28 June 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Crystal Palace. Mateta began his career with Châteauroux before signing for Ligue 1 side Lyon in 2016. Following a successful loan to secon ...

International career

França has played internationally for Brazil at under-16 level with six appearances. França has been called-up to the represent Brazil U20 at the

2023 South American U-20 Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as U-20 South American Championship and es, Torneo Juventudes de América, "Campeonato Sudamericano Sub 20" or pt, Juventude da América (English: "America's Youth") is a South American f ...

, but

asked for his release to play in 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 ...

Career statistics

Honours

Flamengo *

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

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 ...

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Crystal Palace F.C. website {{DEFAULTSORT:França, Matheus 2004 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Men's association football forwards Copa Libertadores-winning players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Premier League players CR Flamengo footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England