João Carlos Vilaça Teixeira (born 18 January 1993) 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. ...

for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club

Shanghai Shenhua Shanghai Shenhua Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Shanghai, that competes in . Shanghai Shenhua plays its home matches at the Shanghai Stadium, located within Xuhui District. The owner of Shanghai Shenhua is ...

. After developing at

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

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,

he joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

for £800,000 in January 2012. He made eight total appearances for Liverpool, scoring once, and had loans at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

in League One and

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, winning

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

at the latter. He returned to Portugal in 2016, and made over 70

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 ...

appearances for Braga,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

Vitória de Guimarães 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 * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

and Famalicão.

Club career

Sporting CP

Teixeira joined

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,

from hometown club

in 2004 and progressed through the youth teams. He began training with the first team and was given the number 46 shirt for the 2011–12 season. His first involvement for the senior side came in December 2011, when he was an unused substitute for

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 ...

matches against

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a professional football club based in Zurich, Switzerland. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League thirteen times and the Swiss Cup ten times. ...

and

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Liverpool

Having been a youth player at

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,

, Teixeira joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

in a £830,000 deal during the January 2012

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. He had impressed Liverpool Academy manager Frank McParland with his performances in

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

for Sporting Lisbon against Liverpool during the 2011–12 NextGen Series. The move almost fell through due to a back injury. Upon joining Liverpool, Teixeira was hailed as "the new

Deco Anderson Luís de Souza (born 27 August 1977), also known as Deco (), is a Brazilian-born Portuguese former professional footballer who primarily played as an attacking or central midfielder. Born and raised in Brazil, he acquired Portuguese ...

". Teixeira made 20

U21 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of English youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Pe ...

appearances for Liverpool during the

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, scoring 2 goals as Liverpool reached the competition's semi-finals, where they lost 3–0 to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

2013–14 season: Brentford loan and debut

Teixeira made his first U21 appearance of the 2013–14 season on 2 September, scoring the equaliser in a 1–1 draw with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, and followed it with the concluding goal of a 5–0 rout of

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 7 October. Amidst interest from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

, Teixeira joined League One side

on 10 September 2013 on a youth loan running until 5 January 2014. On 14 September he made the first professional appearance of his career in a 4–3 victory at

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

, coming on as an added-time substitute for

George Saville George Alan Saville (born 1 June 1993) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Millwall F.C., Millwall and the Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland national team. He will join ...

. He then made his second appearance on 23 September as a substitute for

Martin Fillo Martin Fillo (born 7 February 1986) is a Czech professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right winger. Fillo is a former Czech Republic national football team, Czech Republic international and has played domestic football in t ...

, playing 21 minutes in a 2–0 home defeat to

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. ...

. However, as Brentford fell further down League One, manager

Uwe Rösler Uwe Rösler (; born 15 November 1968) is a German football manager and former professional footballer. He most recently managed Danish Superliga club AGF from 2022 to 2025. As a player he was a centre forward, notably playing in the Premier Lea ...

admitted that due to the team's downturn in form, he could no longer guarantee the game time Liverpool expected for Teixeira. The loan was therefore terminated early by Liverpool on 7 October, Teixeira having made just two league appearances. After returning to the Liverpool Reserves, on 12 February 2014 Teixeira made his senior team debut as an 82nd-minute substitute for

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea. Sterling began his career at Queens Park Rangers F.C., Que ...

against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, in a tightly contested 3–2 win at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

. He was involved in the buildup play that led to

Daniel Sturridge Daniel Andre Sturridge Johnson (born 1 September 1989) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. Since 2023, he has worked as a television pundit for Sky Sports. Sturridge was scouted by Aston Villa and played for ...

winning the penalty that won Liverpool the game. The young midfielder was praised after the game by manager

Brendan Rodgers Brendan Rodgers (born 26 January 1973) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who is manager of Scottish Premiership club Celtic. Rodgers began his career as a defender at Ballymena United, where he stayed until h ...

and captain

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

on a season-long loan deal, signed by former Liverpool defender

Sami Hyypiä Sami Tuomas Hyypiä (; born 7 October 1973) is a Finnish professional football manager and a former player who played as a centre-back. Hyypiä began his playing career with Ykkönen side Kumu and soon moved to Veikkausliiga outfit MyPa. He s ...

. Teixeira made his debut the day after joining, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for

Kazenga LuaLua Kazenga LuaLua (born 10 December 1990) is an English– Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger. Career Newcastle United and loan spells Born in Kinshasa, LuaLua moved to England shortly after his birth. He moved to Newcastle a ...

in a 1–0 defeat away to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. On 19 August, he scored his first goal on his first full start for the club, opening a 2–0 victory against

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 ...

. He went on to score his second goal for the club just four days later, the winner as they came from behind to defeat

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

2–1. Teixeira scored twice in the first half in a 3–2 home win over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

on 21 January 2015. A month later, he scored a further two goals for a 4–3 victory against Birmingham. On 14 April, Teixeira suffered a broken leg as a result of a challenge by

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

Nahki Wells Nahki Michael Wells (born 1 June 1990) is a Bermudian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for club Bristol City F.C., Bristol City and the Bermuda national football team, Bermuda ...

during a goalless draw. Ruled out for the remainder of the season, he was recalled by Liverpool. On 20 April, he was voted as Brighton's Young Player of the Year after ending the season as their top scorer in the league with 6 goals. On 19 May, Teixeira was also awarded Liverpool's Academy Player of the Year.

2015–16 season

On 28 October 2015, Teixeira made his first start for Liverpool against Bournemouth in the League Cup and assisted

Nathaniel Clyne Nathaniel Edwin Clyne (born 5 April 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right wing-back and occasionally centre-back for club Crystal Palace. A Crystal Palace academy graduate, Clyne made his senior debu ...

to score the only goal of the game. On 20 January 2016, in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

Third round replay, Teixeira scored his first competitive goal for Liverpool, the last to round off a 3–0 victory over

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third level of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

Later career

On 12 June 2016, Teixeira announced that he had agreed to join

following the expiration of his contract with Liverpool. His departure was confirmed by Liverpool two days later, with the club due £250,000 compensation. Teixeira was loaned back to his hometown club Braga on 31 August 2017, for the season. He played 23 times, scoring once, an equaliser in 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 ...

2–1 win at

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentioned ...

on 14 September. In a surprise move on 26 July 2018, Teixeira joined Braga's local rivals

Vitória S.C. Vitória Sport Clube, popularly known as Vitória de Guimarães or sometimes just Vitória, is a Portuguese professional football club based in Guimarães that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football, at the Est ...

on a three-year deal. He did not score until 13 months later, when he netted in home wins over

Jeunesse Esch Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a professional football club based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and ...

and

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

in Europa League qualifiers; 2019–20 was the most prolific league season of his career with eight goals. On 4 September 2020, Teixeira went back abroad on a two-year deal with the option for a third at

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

in the 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 ...

; no fee was disclosed. Having not scored in 24 appearances, mostly as a substitute, he returned to his country's top division on 31 January 2022 with Famalicão. Teixeira signed a two-year deal at

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipalities of Qatar, municipality in the State of Qatar. Historic landmarks such as the Barzan Tower are located in Umm Salal.The municipal headquarters is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km ...

in the

Qatar Stars League The Qatar Stars League (; abbreviated as QSL), known as Ooredoo Stars League for sponsorship reasons, is the top level football league in Qatar football league system. Contested by 12 teams, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation wi ...

on 27 June 2022. In April 2023, he joined

club

on a contract until December 2024.

International career

Teixeira represented Portugal at every age group from U16 to U21. He was included in the under-17 squad for the 2010 UEFA European Championship. He made his U21 debut in a friendly against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in June 2013, starting the match and scoring in the 84th minute.

Career statistics

Honours

Shanghai Shenhua *

Chinese FA Cup The Chinese FA Cup (, abbreviated as CFA Cup) is the national knockout cup competition in China organized by the Chinese Football Association. The current holders are Shanghai Port, having beaten Shandong Taishan in 2024 for their first title. H ...

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 ...

Chinese FA Super Cup The Chinese FA Super Cup (), formerly named Chinese Football Super Cup (), is a Chinese football super cup competition that takes place every year before the start of the new season. It is contested between the champions of the previous Chinese Su ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Individual * Liverpool Academy Player of the Year: 2014–15 * Brighton & Hove Albion Young Player of the Year: 2014–15

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Teixeira, Joao Carlos 1993 births Living people Footballers from Braga Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football midfielders Portugal men's youth international footballers Sporting CP footballers Liverpool F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players FC Porto players S.C. Braga players Vitória S.C. players Feyenoord players Umm Salal SC players Shanghai Shenhua F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Primeira Liga players Eredivisie players Qatar Stars League players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Qatar Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate men's footballers in China 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen