João Pedro Reis Amaral (born 7 September 1991) 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 lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a winger.

Club career

Vitória Setúbal

Born in

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; ), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a populati ...

Porto District The Districts of Portugal, District of Porto ( ) is located on the north-west coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Porto, the second largest city in the country. It is bordered by the Aveiro (district), Aveiro and Viseu (distric ...

, Amaral played lower league and amateur football until the age of 24, working in a wine bottle label factory during this timeframe. On 6 June 2016, he moved straight into the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

after signing a three-year contract with

Vitória F.C. Vitória Futebol Clube (), popularly known as Vitória de Setúbal, is a Portuguese professional Association football, football club based in Setúbal that used to compete in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football league system ...

from F.C. Pedras Rubras. Amaral made his debut in the Portuguese top division on 21 August 2016, starting and featuring 64 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

. He scored his first goal in the competition the following weekend to help the hosts defeat

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a professional Association football, football club based in the Porto metropolitan area. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,600-seat capac ...

2–0, adding a further four until the end of the season – while providing two assists – to help his team finish 12th.

Benfica and Lech Poznań

On 29 May 2018, Amaral joined Benfica on a three-year contract. Shortly after, on 21 July, he signed a four-year deal with Polish club

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. He made his debut for the latter five days later, netting in the last minute of the 1–1 away draw against

FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk (, ) was a Belarus, Belarusian association football, football club, playing in the city of Salihorsk (Soligorsk). History The club was founded in 1961. During Soviet era, Shakhtyor Soligorsk played in the top or second ...

in the

second qualifying round The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of Un ...

of the

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 ...

. Amaral returned to his country and its top tier on 2 January 2020, being loaned to F.C. Paços de Ferreira until 30 June. On 26 August, he agreed to a similar move to the same team. Back at Lech, Amaral scored a career-best 14 goals in the 2021–22 campaign (17 in all competitions, with eight assists), as they won the

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

for the eighth time in history.

Later career

Amaral returned abroad subsequently, where he represented

Kocaelispor Kocaelispor is a Turkish professional football club based in İzmit, Kocaeli. They were founded in 1966 and played in the top level between 1980 and 1988, 1992–2003, and the 2008–09 seasons. Their best finish was in the 1992–93 season, w ...

in the TFF 1. Lig,

Al Batin FC Al-Batin F.C. () is a Saudi Arabian professional football club based in Hafar al-Batin, Eastern Province, that competes in the Saudi First Division League. History Al-Batin's colours are sky blue and black. At the end of the 2007–08 season, t ...

of the

Saudi First Division League The Saudi First Division League (), currently known as the Yelo League for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of professional football in Saudi Arabia. It ranks below the Saudi Pro League and above the Saudi Second Division League in the ...

. and FC Politehnica Iași from the 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 ...

Career statistics

Honours

Vitória Setúbal *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

runner-up: 2017–18 Lech Poznań *

: 2021–22 *

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

runner-up: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Portuguese League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amaral, Joao 1991 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Vila Nova de Gaia Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers Primeira Liga players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players CD Candal players Padroense F.C. players SC Mirandela players F.C. Pedras Rubras players AD Oliveirense players Vitória F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers F.C. Paços de Ferreira players Ekstraklasa players II liga players Lech Poznań players Lech Poznań II players TFF 1. Lig players Kocaelispor footballers Saudi First Division League players Al Batin FC players FC Politehnica Iași (2010) players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Romania