Matheus Bonifácio Saldanha Marinho (born 19 August 1999), commonly known as Matheus Saldanha, 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 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 Serbian club

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

Club career

Born in

Uberaba Uberaba () is a city in the state of Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil. It is located in the Brazilian Highlands at above sea level on the Uberaba River, and away from the state capital, Belo Horizonte. The city status was granted in 1856, and i ...

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 ...

, Saldanha joined

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

's youth setup in 2018, initially on loan from Audax. On 1 July 2019, after impressing with the under-20 side, he was bought outright and signed a permanent three-year contract. Saldanha was promoted to the first team for the 2020 season, and made his senior debut on 22 January of that year by starting in a 1–1

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano is the football league of the state of Bahia, Brazil. The championship has been played since 1905 without interruption. 2020 format First stage: 10 teams are included in one group, playing once only against all teams in ...

away draw against Juazeirense. He scored his first senior goal on 9 February, netting his team's second in a 3–1 away win against

Jacobina Jacobina is a city in the Centro Norte Baiano mesoregion of Bahia. It was founded July 28, 1722 and the population is 80,635. The town is surrounded by mountains, hills, lakes, rivers, springs, and waterfalls. Located in the northwest region of ...

. Saldanha made his Série A on 12 August 2020, coming on as a second-half substitute for Rossi in a 1–0 home win against

Coritiba Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as "Coxa-Branca" or "Coxa", is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest f ...

. His first goal in the category occurred on 16 September, as he scored his team's second in a 2–3 away loss against

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

. In 2021, Saldanha joined to J2 club,

JEF United Chiba , full name and also known as , is a Japanese professional football club that plays in the J2 League. On 1 February 2005, the club changed its name from ''JEF United Ichihara'' to the current name after Chiba city had joined Ichihara, Chiba as ...

on loan transfer. One year later, he was announcement officially permanently transfer to JEF United Chiba has been confirmed after a season as loan player from EC Bahia. In 2022, Saldanha loaned again to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club,

Chengdu Rongcheng Chengdu Rongcheng Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Chengdu, Sichuan and their home stadium is the Chengdu Phoenix Hill Football Stadium that has a seating capacity of 50,695. The club currently participates in th ...

for during mid 2022 season. He leave from the club after a half season at Chengdu expiration contract. He returned to JEF United Chiba for the 2023 season. On 28 July 2023, Saldanha signed a four-year contract with Serbian club

for a reported fee of €1.3 million. Just one day later, Saldanha scored a goal on his debut in a 3–3 draw

away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a 2016 British film * ''Away'' (2019 film), a 2019 animated silent film * ''Away'' (TV series), a 2020 science fiction drama on Netflix Literature * ''Away'' (play), a 1986 play by M ...

TSC TSC may refer to: Organizations * Technology Service Corporation, a US engineering company * Terrorist Screening Center, a division of the National Security Branch of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation * The Shopping Channel, a Canadian televi ...

. A week later, Saldanha scored his second goal in a 2–0 win over

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

. In the third qualifying round for the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

, Saldanha scored one goal in the two-legged tie against

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

. On 27 August, Saldanha scored his third SuperLiga goal in a 3–1 win against Javor. In September and October, Saldanha continued his good form by scoring 6 goals and providing 3 assists. On 20 December 2023, Saldanha scored the winning goal in the 171st Eternal derby in a 2–1 win against arch rivals

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

. Saldanha scored against Red Star again at the

Rajko Mitić Stadium The Rajko Mitić Stadium ( sr, / , ), previously known as Red Star Stadium ( sr, / ), also known as Marakana ( sr-Cyrl, Маракана), is a multi-use stadium in Belgrade, Serbia which has been the home ground of Red Star Belgrade since ...

on 9 March 2024, as Red Star and Partizan drew 2–2 in the 172nd Eternal derby.

Career statistics

Honours

Bahia *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

*
Bahia profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saldanha, Mateus 1999 births Living people Sportspeople from Uberaba Footballers from Minas Gerais Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Esporte Clube Bahia players J2 League players Chinese Super League players JEF United Chiba players Chengdu Rongcheng F.C. players Neftçi PFK players Azerbaijan Premier League players FK Partizan players Serbian SuperLiga players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Azerbaijan Expatriate men's footballers in Azerbaijan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia