Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias (; born 14 May 1997) 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 ...

who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City and the Portugal national team. Considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is known for his defensive prowess, leadership, and aerial ability. Dias came through Benfica's youth academy. He began playing for Benfica B in 2015 and was promoted to the first-team in 2017, and was named the Primeira Liga's Young Player of the Year. The following season, Dias won the league title in the 2018–19 season with Benfica and later the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

during the 2019–20 season, while also being named in the Primeira Liga's Team of the Year, making over 100 appearances in the process. He signed for Premier League club Manchester City in September 2020 for a reported fee of €68 million, becoming the second-highest fee for a Portuguese player leaving the domestic league. Dias won the league title and EFL Cup in his first season, while also reaching

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

final. He was also named

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

, Manchester City Player of the Year,

Premier League Player of the Season The Premier League Player of the Season is an annual association football award presented to players in England, which recognises the most outstanding player in the Premier League each season. The recipient is chosen by a panel assembled by the ...

and the UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season in 2021. Dias is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He made his senior international debut in 2018, being chosen in Portugal's squads for the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals,

UEFA Euro 2020 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 Europe ...

and

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

; he won the 2019 tournament on home soil, while being named in the team of the tournament and man of the match in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

Early life

Born and raised in

Amadora Amadora () is a municipality and urbanized city in the northwest of the Lisbon metropolitan area and 10 km from central Lisbon. The population in 2011 was 175,136, in an area of 23.78 km² (9.2 sq mi). It is the most densely populated mun ...

, Dias has an older brother Ivan, who is also a professional football player, who nicknamed him "Ruby". Growing up, his idols were

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...

Nemanja Vidić Nemanja Vidić ( sr-Cyrl, Немања Видић, ; born 21 October 1981) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is best known for his time at Manchester United, was part of the Serbia national team, and ...

Rio Ferdinand Rio Gavin Ferdinand (born 7 November 1978) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back, and is now a television pundit for BT Sport. He played 81 times for the England national team between 1997 and 2011, and w ...

, and

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (; ; born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is the current manager of EFL Championship club Burnley. He most notably played for Manchester Ci ...

, whom he looked to emulate, as he idolized playing in the

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 Fo ...

. He would play football wherever he could on the streets or in his house with his brother Ivan.

Club career

Benfica B

Dias started his career at local club Estrela da Amadora after being brought to the club by a close family member. Dias initially played as a striker, before switching to defence, due to his team being losing by two goals during a match. Before moving to Benfica's youth academy in 2008, where he played initially as a midfielder, before to central defence for the junior side until 2015. In the same year, on 30 September, he made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 2015–16 LigaPro match against Chaves. On 7 March 2016, Rui Vitória called 18-year-old Dias for Benfica's

Round of 16-second leg tie against

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acco ...

after three of his four main centre-backs were unable to make the trip to Russia. The following season he helped the B team finish fourth; the club's highest ever position obtained in the

second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He also helped the junior team reach the final of the

2016–17 UEFA Youth League The 2016–17 UEFA Youth League was the fourth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. Chelsea were the title holders after winning the previous two editions. However, since the UEFA Youth Le ...

Benfica

On 16 September 2017, Dias debuted for the first team in a Primeira Liga match against Boavista. After two months of impressive displays, including two games against Manchester United in the Champions League, he underwent surgery due to

appendicitis Appendicitis is inflammation of the appendix. Symptoms commonly include right lower abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and decreased appetite. However, approximately 40% of people do not have these typical symptoms. Severe complications of a ru ...

, sidelining him for a month. He scored his first goal for Benfica in a Taça da Liga encounter (2–2) against

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

on 29 December 2017. On 3 February 2018, he scored his first goal in the Primeira Liga against Rio Ave (5–1). At the end of the season, he was voted Primeira Liga's best young player of the year. After heavy speculation linking Dias to a big money move to French side

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, he extended his contract with Benfica until 2023. On 2 November 2019, Dias played his 100th game for the club and scored the opening goal against Rio Ave in a 2-0 home victory. On 26 September 2020, Dias scored the opening goal against Moreirense in a 2–0 win. After the game, 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 1 ...

admitted that it was probably his last game for the club.

Manchester City

2020–21: Debut season and European final

Dias signed for English

club Manchester City on 29 September 2020 on a six-year contract, with an initial fee reported of €68 million (£61.64 million) that could rise to €71.6 million with performance bonuses, plus

Nicolás Otamendi Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi (born 12 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Portuguese Primeira Liga club Benfica and the Argentina national team. Otamendi played for Vélez Sarsfield and ...

being sent to Benfica in part-exchange for €15 million bringing the net cost of the transaction to €56.6 million (£51 million). On 3 October 2020, Dias made his league debut for City in a 1–1 away draw against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. Dias was named the Manchester City Player of the Month for November 2020, following a series of very strong defensive performances. On 27 February 2021, Dias scored his first goal for City in a 2–1 home league win over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

. He was praised as being a key factor in Manchester City regaining the Premier League title that season by bringing composure, leadership and stability back to the defence. Dias won the

for the 2020–21 season, who described him as a "comfortable winner" ahead of

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...

and

Kevin De Bruyne Kevin De Bruyne (born 28 June 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the Belgium national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best players in the world. Pundits have often des ...

, and becoming the first defender to win the award since

Steve Nicol ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

in the 1988–89 season. He was also named Manchester City's Player of the Season and the

2021–22: Second Premier League title

On 15 September 2021, Dias captained Manchester City for the first time, providing an assist for

Jack Grealish Jack Peter Grealish (born 10 September 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Manchester City and the England national team. Grealish joined Aston Villa at the age of six, and ...

in a 6–3 home Champions League win against

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bul ...

. On 1 December, Dias opened the scoring in Manchester City's 2–1 victory over Aston Villa, with his first goal from outside the box in his career. On 4 March 2022, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola announced that Dias had suffered an hamstring injury, his first injury in five years, leading him to miss two months of the season, which included the second

Manchester Derby The Manchester derby refers to football matches between Manchester City and Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, east Manchester, while United play at Old Trafford in the borough of ...

of the season, Manchester City's second leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against

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 ...

and

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 ...

's qualification play-offs for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He made his return from injury on 20 April, replacing

Nathan Aké Nathan Benjamin Aké (born 18 February 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Manchester City and the Netherlands national team. Although he predominantly plays as a centre-back, he has also ...

in the 46th minute in a 3–0 victory over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. On 7 May, Dias suffered another hamstring injury during a match against Newcastle United, sidelining him for the remainder of the season.

International career

Youth

Dias represented the Under-17 side at the

2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, an annual football competition between men's under-17 national teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament was hosted for the first t ...

. Two years later, he captained the Under-19 squad at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. The following year, he captained the Under-20 side at the 2017 U-20 World Cup, which lost to

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

5–4 on penalties in the quarterfinals. On 5 September 2017, he made his debut for the Under-21s in a

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition that determined the 11 teams joining the automatically qualified hosts Italy in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tourn ...

match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Senior

Dias was called up to the senior side by Portugal manager Fernando Santos on 15 March 2018, ahead of international friendlies against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. However, four days later he was dropped from the squad after picking up right ankle sprain. On 17 May 2018, Dias was named in Portugal's 23-man squad for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

in Russia. Eleven days later, he made his international debut in a friendly against

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. Despite being present at the World Cup, he did not feature in any of Portugal's four matches in the competition. Following the World Cup, Dias began establishing himself in the central defense, overtaking

José Fonte José Miguel da Rocha Fonte (born 22 December 1983) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ligue 1 club Lille and the Portugal national team. Fonte started his professional career with Sporting CP B, moving to ...

's place alongside

Pepe Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname. * People Mononyms * Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer *Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira ...

, featuring in all of Portugal's

2018–19 UEFA Nations League The 2018–19 UEFA Nations League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of UEFA. The league phase of the competiti ...

matches, helping Portugal reach the

2019 UEFA Nations League Final The 2019 UEFA Nations League Final was a football match that determined the winners of the final tournament of the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League. It was the inaugural final of the international football competition involving the men's national ...

on home soil. On 9 June, Portugal defeated the

1–0 in the tournament's final, with Dias being named man of the match. For his performances throughout the competition, he was named in the " Team of the Tournament". On 17 November, Dias scored his first international goals during the 2020-21 UEFA Nations League, netting a brace in a 3–2 victory against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He was selected to the squad for the

. On 19 June 2021, he scored an own goal in the 35th minute in a 2–4 loss against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in the UEFA Euro 2020. He appeared in all of Portugal's matches, being eventually eliminated at the round of 16, following a 1–0 loss against

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. In October 2022, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, being included in the final 26-man squad for the tournament.

Style of play

Dias is a physically strong, right-footed centre-back, who usually features on the left-hand side of central defence, due to being comfortable at passing the ball with both feet. He is able to pass in different directions, whether to a teammate on the same side as him, or switching it to the opposing side or making vertical line-breaking passes. Combining his two-footedness with a very good passing range, Dias can dictate play in any direction from the back. Dias’ strength on the ball when shielding it away from forwards running down his channel. Dias is very calm on the ball too and rarely finds himself in a heap of pressure. Dias is extremely proficient at passing, especially in longer passes, as his passing quality and ability is able to help his team retain possession. Dias is also dominant in the air, winning most of his aerial duels, as he looks to target his teammates and find them on a regular basis. Dias also uses his size to help him contest well in tackles, as he also his great at bodying up on players to win the ball back. He has a good-timing as he is able to anticipate a player's action or react for a "last-ditch" challenge. His Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, stated that "Dias a center back who leads the defensive line and in doing so helps others to make good decisions, the same happens in relation to midfielders ..he is a player capable of living every moment of the game ..always being focused on what he has to do and he makes his partner better." José Mourinho would praise Dias as the "best centre-back in world ..for the

e's is a Japanese shōnen manga series written and drawn by Satoru Yuiga. It was originally serialized in ''Monthly GFantasy'' from 1997 through 2005, and later published in 16 ''tankōbon'' volumes by Square Enix from March 18, 2003 to Februa ...

gaining another level of experience, knowledge". Former Manchester United defender

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit and former player. He is also a co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. After retiring from football in 2011, Neville went into punditry and was a comm ...

, stated that "Dias is the type of player who makes the whole team feel safe." Meanwhile, former

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

defender

Jamie Carragher James Lee Duncan Carragher (; born 28 January 1978) is an English football pundit and former footballer who played as a defender for Premier League club Liverpool during a career which spanned 17 years. A one-club man, he was Liverpool's v ...

would compare Dias to legendary

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

defender Carles Puyol, stating that "the amount of interceptions" during a

match reminded him of legendary Premier League defender

, while also praising his "leadership skills".

Personal life

Dias dated Portuguese pop star April Ivy from 2018 until September 2021.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 10 December 2022. Portugal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Dias goal.''

Honours

Benfica * Primeira Liga: 2018–19 *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Manchester City *

: 2020–21, 2021–22 * EFL Cup: 2020–21 *

runner-up: 2020–21 Portugal *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

: 2018–19 Individual *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

Team of the Tournament:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Cosme Damião Cosme Damião (2 November 1885 – 12 June 1947) was a Portuguese football player-coach for S.L. Benfica. He is remembered as the main force behind the birth of Benfica and one of the first great Portuguese football players. Benfica's yearly aw ...

Awards – Revelation of the Year: 2017 *Primeira Liga Best Young Player of the Year: 2017–18 *UEFA Nations League Finals Team of the Tournament:

*Primeira Liga Defender of the Month: March 2018, October/November 2019 *Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2019–20 *

: 2020–21 * PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2020–21 * Manchester City Player of the Year: 2020–21 *UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21 *

: 2020–21 *

ESM Team of the Year The European Sports Media (ESM), formerly European Sports Magazines, is an association of football-related publications in Europe. Members European Sports Media was established in 1989 as an international body for football journalism. Its nine fo ...

: 2020–21 * UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season: 2020–21 * IFFHS Men's World Team: 2021 * FIFA FIFPro World11: 2021

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester City F.C. website
Profile
at the Portuguese Football Federation website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dias, Ruben 1997 births Living people People from Amadora Portuguese footballers Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers Association football defenders S.L. Benfica B players S.L. Benfica footballers Manchester City F.C. players Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players Premier League players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Nations League-winning players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Sportspeople from Lisbon District