Tomás do Lago Pontes Esteves (born 3 April 2002) is a Portuguese 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 ...
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, on loan from
Porto
Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...
.
Club career
Esteves was born in
Arcos de Valdevez
Arcos de Valdevez () is a concelho, municipality along the northern frontier of Portugal and Galicia (Spain), Galicia (Spain). The population in 2011 was 22,847,Viana do Castelo District. He was part of the
FC Porto
Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...
squad that won the
2018–19 UEFA Youth League
The 2018–19 UEFA Youth League was the sixth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA.
The final was played on 29 April 2019 at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, between English side ...
, defeating Chelsea 3–1 in the final in Nyon, Switzerland. With a contract lasting until 2021, he attracted interest from
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
who offered €10 million for his signature, and rejected a transfer to
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.
Founded ...
in August 2019.
Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Esteves was given the number 2 shirt for the first team, inherited from the released Maxi Pereira. He made his senior debut on 18 August 2019 for
FC Porto B
Futebol Clube do Porto B, commonly known as Porto B, is a Portuguese professional football team, which serves as the reserve side of FC Porto. They compete in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football, and play their home ...
, starting and playing 80 minutes in a 1–1 home draw against
Varzim S.C.
Varzim Sport Club () is a Portuguese football team based in Póvoa de Varzim, near Porto in the north of the country. The club was founded on 25 December 1915, and has played at the Estádio do Varzim Sport Club since it was founded. The club pl ...
on the second week of the season.
Esteves had his initial call-up to a first-team matchday squad for the
Taça da Liga
The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...
opening group match against
C.D. Santa Clara
Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...
on 25 September 2019, remaining unused in the 1–0 home win. On 5 December he made his debut in the same competition, playing the last 15 minutes of a 3–0 win at
Casa Pia A.C.
Casa Pia Atlético Clube is a Portuguese multi-sports founded in 1920 and based in Lisbon, Portugal, best-known for its football team, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after Casa Pia, a Portuguese children's charity, and many ...
in place of
Wilson Manafá
Wilson Migueis Manafá Jancó (born 23 July 1994), known as Manafá, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger or a full-back.
After making his Primeira Liga debut for Portimonense at the age of 23 he transferred to Porto ...
. He made 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, ...
bow on 16 June 2020, playing the first hour of a goalless draw at bottom club
C.D. Aves
Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube ...
before being substituted for
Moussa Marega
Moussa Marega (born 14 April 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a second striker for Saudi Professional League club Al Hilal. Born in France, he represents the Mali national team.
He began his career in France, playing no higher ...
.
On 5 October 2020, Esteves was loaned to
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 ...
for the season. He made his debut fifteen days later in a 1–0 home win over
Wycombe Wanderers
Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...
, as a 57th-minute substitute for Tom Holmes. He scored his only goal for the Royals in a 2–2 draw with
Swansea City
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
on 25 April 2021.
On 2 August 2022, Esteves joined
Pisa S.C.
Pisa Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Pisa, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Pisa, Tuscany. The team currently plays in Serie B.
The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as Pisa Calci ...
in the Italian
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...
on loan with an option to buy and a conditional obligation to buy. He made his debut 11 days later, starting as the season began with a 4–3 loss at
A.S. Cittadella
Associazione Sportiva Cittadella, commonly known as Cittadella, is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Cittadella, Veneto, currently playing in .
The team was founded in 1973 and play their home games at the Stadio Pier ...
.
International career
Esteves first represented Portugal at under-15 level in April 2017. On 5 September 2019, he made his debut for the under-21 team, replacing
Thierry Correia
Thierry Rendall Correia (born 9 March 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for La Liga club Valencia.
Club career Sporting CP
Born in Amadora, Lisbon metropolitan area of Cape Verdean descent, Correia joined ...
at half time in a 5–0 home win over
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
in
Alverca
Alverca do Ribatejo () is a city (''cidade'') and a former civil parish in the municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Alverca do Ribatejo e Sobralinho.
It covers an area of and had a pop ...
in a
Euro 2021
The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...
qualifier
In linguistics, a modifier is an optional element in phrase structure or clause structure which ''modifies'' the meaning of another element in the structure. For instance, the adjective "red" acts as a modifier in the noun phrase "red ball", provi ...
. At 17 years, 5 months and 3 days he became the youngest player for the team in the 21st century, beating fellow Porto graduate Rúben Neves by 25 days.
Personal life
Esteves' younger brother Gonçalo, also a defender, spent a decade at Porto before joining Sporting CP in 2021.
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, ...