Francisco Santos da Silva Júnior (born 18 January 1992) is a Bissau-Guinean 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. He represented Portugal internationally at under-19 and under-21 level before being called up to the

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

senior team in 2017. Originally from

, he was signed by Portuguese side Benfica whilst with Benfica de Bissau in 2007. He signed with English club Everton in February 2012, who

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

ed him out to

Vitesse Arnhem SBV Vitesse Arnhem (''Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse Arnhem, Eng: Professional Football Foundation Vitesse Arnhem''), widely known as Vitesse () or internationally known as Vitesse Arnhem, is a Dutch professional association football, footba ...

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

, and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. He joined

on a free transfer in February 2016 and was an unused substitute in the 2018 Norwegian Football Cup final. After two seasons, he joined

Vendsyssel FF Vendsyssel Forenede Fodboldklubber is a professional football club based in Hjørring, Denmark. The team competes in the Danish 1st Division, the second tier of the Danish football league system. The club plays home matches at Nord Energi Arena ...

(Denmark) in December 2018. He spent the 2019–20 season with Israeli club

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli professional football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups (1962–63, 1965–66 and 1973–74, 2 ...

and then joined Romanian club

Gaz Metan Mediaș Gaz may refer to: Geography *Gaz, Kyrgyzstan Iran * Gaz, Darmian, village in South Khorasan province * Gaz, Golestan, a village in Bandar-e Gaz County * Gaz, Hormozgan, a village in Minab County * Gaz, Kerman, a village * Gaz, North Khorasan, a ...

in October 2020. He switched to Sepsi OSK in May 2022 and won the

Supercupa României The Supercupa României () is a Romanian football (soccer), football championship contested by the winners of the Liga I and the Cupa României. It is usually played at the Arena Națională in Bucharest. The competition started off in 1994 Supe ...

and

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

with the club. He signed with Botoșani in August 2024.

Club career

Early career

Júnior started his club career in Bissau with

Sport Bissau e Benfica Sport Bissau e Benfica, commonly known as Benfica de Bissau, is a football club from Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, that plays in the Campeonato Nacional da Guiné-Bissau, the top flight of Bissau-Guinean football. Benfica Bissau is considered to the top ...

at youth level, he was spotted by talent scouts from

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), 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 association footbal ...

and

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

but soon transferred to Benfica. His professional career began with Benfica in 2008, and he was

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

ed to the club until 2013 as there was a clause in the contract that automatically converted Júnior's youth contract into a professional contract. Júnior was

ed to

U.D. Leiria União Desportiva de Leiria (), commonly known as União de Leiria, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Leiria. Founded on 6 June 1966, it currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, holding home matches at Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pe ...

in 2011 but never showed up to play for Leiria, and it was found that the player had been training with

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

unbeknownst to Benfica. Benfica's president

Luís Filipe Vieira Luís Filipe Ferreira Vieira (born 22 June 1949) is a Portuguese real estate businessman who was the List of S.L. Benfica presidents, 33rd president of sports club S.L. Benfica, from October 2003 to July 2021. He was also president of the club ...

told Manchester City to return the player to Benfica and sent the English club a plane ticket for Júnior's return. Vieira also threatened to report Manchester City to

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

. In July 2011, Manchester-based media reported that Júnior was on trial with Manchester City, playing with their Development XI team in a friendly against

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

. Guinea-Bissauan sports agent Catió Balde and Anglo-Iranian lawyer

Kia Joorabchian Kiavash Joorabchian () is an Iranian-born British-educated businessman largely involved in association football. In the register of directorships at Companies House in London, Joorabchian gives two nationalities, Canadian and British, born on 14 ...

intervened. Manchester City were forced to release the player. Manchester City compensated Benfica with €1.5million.

Everton

In February 2012, Júnior signed professional terms with Everton having signed on a free transfer. In an interview with Guinea-Bissauan website ''Bola na Bantaba'', Júnior stated that he signed for Everton because he "was tired of the impasse between Benfica and Manchester City and businessmen who wanted to win more than they should". He made his debut for the "Toffees" under

David Moyes David William Moyes (born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player, who currently manages Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. He was the 2003, 200 ...

in a 2–1 League Cup defeat to

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Elland Road Elland Road, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

; he was taken off for

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

. On 1 September 2013, Júnior signed with Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

, in a season-long loan deal. This loan deal was later cancelled due to a knee injury, and a new five-month loan deal with Norwegian Tippeliga side

was signed in February 2014. The loan deal was later extended by one month and expired in August. In December 2014 he began training with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

leaders

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

under Ronny Deila, his former

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

at Strømsgodset. On 26 March 2015, Júnior joined League One side

on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season. "Valiants" manager

Rob Page Robert John Page (born 3 September 1974) is a Welsh Manager (association football), football manager and former association football, player who was most recently the manager of the Wales national football team, Wales national team. In an 18-yea ...

said that "I'd like to thank

Roberto Martínez Roberto Martínez Montoliu (; born 13 July 1973) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of the Portugal national team. Martínez played as a defensive midfielder and began his career at Re ...

for his co-operation with getting this deal over the line." He started away at

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

two days later, before being taken off for

Sam Johnson Samuel Robert Johnson (October 11, 1930 – May 27, 2020) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for in Congress from 1991 to 2019. He was a member of the Republican Party. In October and November 2015, he was the act ...

after goalkeeper

Chris Neal Christopher Michael Neal (born 23 October 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and is now goalkeeping coach at club AFC Fylde. Neal began his career at Preston North End, making his English Football Le ...

got

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

on 54 minutes. This proved to be his only appearance for the club as he picked up an injury and was ruled out for the rest of the campaign. He returned to League One with newly-

relegated Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

after joining on an initial one-month loan in July 2015. He made his debut for the "Latics" on 8 August in a 2–0 defeat to

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

at the

Ricoh Arena The Coventry Building Society Arena (often shortened to the CBS Arena or just simply Coventry Arena, and formerly known as the Ricoh Arena) is a complex in Coventry, West Midlands, England. It includes a 32,609-seater stadium which is currentl ...

. His loan was extended until 16 January after being described as a "revelation" by manager

Gary Caldwell Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Athletic an ...

. However, he was forced to return to Everton in December for treatment on a long-standing

groin In human anatomy, the groin, also known as the inguinal region or iliac region, is the junctional area between the torso and the thigh. The groin is at the front of the body on either side of the pubic tubercle, where the lower part of the abdom ...

problem.

Strømsgodset

In February 2016, he signed a two-year contract with the Norwegian Tippeligaen club

. He scored one goal in 24 appearances in the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

season, as the club posted an eighth-place finish. He played 29 of the club's 30 league games in the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

season as Strømsgodset finished in fourth place, missing out on a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

qualification place by a single point. Strømsgodset reached the

Norwegian Football Cup The Norwegian Football Cup () is the main knockout cup competition in Norwegian football. It is run by the Football Association of Norway and has been contested since 1902, making it the oldest football tournament in the country. The tournament ...

final, however, he was not selected by

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen Bjørn Petter Ingebretsen (born 26 May 1967) is a Norwegian football coach who is the current director of sports of Mjøndalen. His latest position as head coach was for Eliteserien club Strømsgodset. Playing career Ingebretsen was born in F ...

and was instead an unused substitute in what finished as 4–1 defeat to Rosenborg at the

Ullevaal Stadion Ullevaal Stadion () is an all-seater football stadium located in Oslo, Norway. It is the home ground of the Norway national football team, and the site of the Norwegian Cup Final. From its opening in 1926 to 2009 it was the home ground of ...

Vendsyssel

On 14 December 2018, Júnior signed a contract with Danish

Superligaen The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

club

Vendsyssel Vendsyssel () is the northernmost traditional district of Denmark and of Jutland. Being divided from mainland Jutland by the Limfjord, it is technically a part of the North Jutlandic Island which also comprises the areas Hanherred and Thy. Vendsy ...

to keep him at the

Hjørring Stadium Hjørring Stadium ( Danish: Hjørring Stadion) is a multi-purpose stadium located in Hjørring, Denmark, that is part of Femhøje Sport Center, and hence also known as Femhøje Stadion – Hjørring. It is currently used mostly for association fo ...

until summer 2021.

Jens Berthel Askou Jens Berthel Askou (born 19 August 1982) is a Danish professional football manager and former player. He is currently the Manager of Scottish Premiership club Motherwell. Askou has played for a number of Danish clubs before moving abroad, first ...

's VFF finished in the relegation play-off places at the end of the 2018–19 season and then lost their top-flight status with a 4–3 aggregate defeat to

Lyngby Kongens Lyngby (, Danish language, Danish for "the King's Heather Town"; short form Lyngby) is the seat and commercial centre of Lyngby-Taarbæk Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Lyngby Hovedgade is a busy shopping stre ...

Hapoel Haifa

Júnior joined

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

side

in August 2019, signing a contract to run for one season with the option of a second; he said that Nir Bitton recommended he find a club in

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Haim Silvas's "Sharks" were in sixth-place when the 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Israel The COVID-19 pandemic in Israel is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The first case in Israel was confirmed on 21 February 2020, when a female citize ...

, with Júnior having made 28 appearances at the

Sammy Ofer Stadium Sammy Ofer Stadium (), also known as Haifa Municipal Stadium (), is a 30,942 seats multi-purpose stadium in Haifa, Israel. Construction began in late 2009 and was completed in 2014. The stadium was developed and built by the Haifa Economic Co ...

Romania

On 12 October 2020, Júnior signed a two-year contract with Romanian

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

. He made 24 appearances in the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season and played 23 games in the 2021–22 campaign, with the club being relegated in summer 2022 after being deducted 42 points due to financial reasons. He remained in Liga I however, after signing with Sepsi OSK in May 2022. He entered the

2022 Supercupa României The 2022 Supercupa României was the 24th edition of the Supercupa României, an annual football super cup contested by the winners of the previous season's Liga I and Cupa României competitions. It was the first Supercupa României edition to use ...

as an 83rd-minute substitute, helping Sepsi to beat

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

2–1 at the Stadionul Francisc von Neuman. On 24 May 2023, he was an unused substitute in the

final as Sepsi defeated

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

on penalties. He did not feature after October 2023 and left the club in February 2024. On 7 August 2024, Júnior joined fellow Liga I club

Botoșani Botoșani () is the capital city of Botoșani County, in the northern part of Moldavia, Romania. Today, it is best known as the birthplace of many celebrated Romanians, including Mihai Eminescu, Nicolae Iorga and Grigore Antipa. Origin of the ...

on a two-year contract. He appeared 13 times in the first half of the 2024–25 season.

International career

Júnior was called up for Portugal under-19 team in January 2011 for the four-team round-robin friendly

La Manga Club La Manga Club is a sports and leisure resort located in the south-eastern region of Spain, Murcia, south of La Manga, and bordered by the Mar Menor and Calblanque Regional Park. The resort complex opened in 1972 and covers an area of 1,400 ...

tournament. His debut came against

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, having replaced Rúben Pinto in the 73rd minute. He came on as a substitute in the 55th minute in the game against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and he helped Portugal retain their title, starting in the 3–1 win over

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the tournament's final game. After leaving Benfica he rejected the chance to join the Portuguese under-20 team and told Guinea-Bissaun media in June 2012 that he wants to represent

. The Guinea-Bissau national team called him up in February 2012 to face

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

in the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations qualification was the qualification process for the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, the 29th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations tournament. South Africa automatically qualified as the host country. Qualified nation ...

campaign, but he did not receive notification in time. In October 2012, he played for Portugal's under 21 side in a friendly against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. He was selected by

Baciro Candé Baciro Candé (born 6 April 1967) is a Bissau-Guinean professional association footballer, football player and association football manager, manager. Career Candé was born in Catió. He played professional football in Portugal's Segunda Liga a ...

in the

squad for the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

. He made his debut on the opening match of the tournament, in a 1–1 draw with hosts

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

on 14 January 2017. He announced his retirement from international football on 25 March 2019.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Strømsgodset *

runner-up:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Sepsi OSK *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links