Nuno Santos (footballer, born 1995)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Gomesand the second or paternal family name is Santos.

Nuno Santos

Santos with Sporting CP in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Nuno Miguel Gomes dos Santos [1]
Date of birth	(1995-02-13) 13 February 1995 (age 29) [1]
Place of birth	Trofa, Portugal [1]
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s)	Winger, wing-back
Team information
Current team	Sporting CP
Number	11
Youth career
2003–2005	Trofense
2005–2012	Porto
2010–2011	→ Padroense (loan)
2012–2013	Rio Ave
2013–2014	Benfica
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2015	Benfica B	42	(10)
2015–2017	Benfica	1	(0)
2016–2017	→ Vitória Setúbal (loan)	26	(0)
2017–2020	Rio Ave	66	(6)
2020–	Sporting CP	132	(25)
International career
2010	Portugal U16	2	(0)
2012–2013	Portugal U18	10	(1)
2013–2014	Portugal U19	15	(3)
2014–2015	Portugal U20	9	(2)
2015	Portugal U21	2	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Portugal UEFA European Under-19 Championship Runner-up 2014 Hungary
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:34, 27 October 2024 (UTC)

Nuno Miguel Gomes dos Santos (born 13 February 1995) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left winger or left wing-back for Sporting CP.

Club career

Benfica

Born in Trofa, Porto metropolitan area, Santos began his development at local C.D. Trofense before joining the ranks of FC Porto, and after a year at Rio Ave F.C. he signed for S.L. Benfica in 2013. ^[2] On 30 August 2014, he made his professional debut with their reserves in the Segunda Liga, coming on as a 69th-minute substitute for João Amorim in a 3–1 home win against S.C. Covilhã. ^{[3] [4]} He scored eight goals in 36 games in his first season, ^[2] starting in a 3–2 loss at S.C. Braga B on 14 December. ^[5] On 14 February 2015, he scored twice in a 4–1 home victory over U.D. Oliveirense (4–1). ^[6]

Santos made his only appearance for the first team in the Primeira Liga on 11 September 2015, playing the final 11 minutes in place of Pizzi in a 6–0 home rout of C.F. Os Belenenses. ^[7] That December, he suffered an injury to his left knee that was still an issue when he signed a season-long loan to fellow top-flight club Vitória F.C. in June 2016. ^[8]

Rio Ave

On 16 June 2017, Santos signed a five-year contract with Rio Ave also of the top tier. ^[9] Almost exclusively a substitute in his first season, he scored once for his first goal in the league on 17 September, at the end of a 1–2 home defeat to eventual champions FC Porto. ^[10]

Santos suffered more problems with his left knee in July 2018, and did not return to the pitch until the following March. ^[11] On 17 June 2020, he was one of three players in his team to be sent off in a 2–1 home loss to Benfica – for a high foot on Pizzi – and was subjected to social media abuse by his club's fans. ^[12]

Sporting CP

On 21 August 2020, Santos joined Sporting CP on a five-year deal ^[13] for €4 million plus shares in the economic rights of Gelson Dala (50%) and Francisco Geraldes (75%), and a buyout clause of €60 million. ^[14] He scored eight competitive goals in his first season for the champions, seven in the league. ^{[15] [16]}

As Sporting often operated on a 3–5–2 formation under Rúben Amorim, Santos was deployed as a left wing-back on several occasions. ^{[17] [18]} He contributed four goals in 2,073 minutes in 2023–24 to another league title, ^[19] but missed the vast majority of the following campaign after rupturing the tendon of his right knee; ^[20] in November 2024, he was handed an eight-match suspension for smashing a glass protection while in the stands – he was not part of the squad due to injury – and injuring two spectators (one of them seriously) during the 4–3 loss against Porto in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in August but, controversially, the ban was to be served while he recovered. ^{[21] [22]}

International career

Santos was part of the Portugal squad at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring an early goal against Senegal (3–0) ^[23] and a late one against Colombia (3–1 win) in the group stage, ^[24] in an eventual quarter-final exit in New Zealand. He won the first of his two caps for the under-21 side on 12 November of that year, replacing Rony Lopes midway through the second half of the 4–0 victory over Albania for the 2017 UEFA European Championship qualifiers held in Arouca. ^[25]

In October 2022, Santos was named in a preliminary 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. ^[26]

Career statistics

As of match played 26 May 2024 ^{[27] [28]}

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Benfica B	2014–15	Segunda Liga	36	8	—		—		—		—		36	8
	2015–16	LigaPro	6	2	—		—		—		—		6	2
	Total		42	10	—		—		—		—		42	10
Benfica	2015–16	Primeira Liga	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Vitória Setúbal (loan)	2016–17	Primeira Liga	26	0	2	0	4	0	—		—		32	0
Rio Ave	2017–18	Primeira Liga	26	1	2	1	4	0	—		—		32	2
	2018–19	Primeira Liga	8	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		8	3
	2019–20	Primeira Liga	32	2	3	1	3	2	—		—		38	5
	Total		66	6	5	2	7	2	0	0	—		78	10
Sporting CP	2020–21	Primeira Liga	31	7	3	1	2	0	1 [a]	0	—		37	8
	2021–22	Primeira Liga	32	6	6	2	4	1	7 [b]	1	1 [c]	0	50	10
	2022–23	Primeira Liga	31	8	1	0	5	0	12 [d]	1	—		49	9
	2023–24	Primeira Liga	31	4	7	1	3	1	9 [a]	0	—		50	6
	Total		125	25	17	4	14	2	29	2	1	0	186	33
Career total			260	41	25	6	25	4	29	2	1	0	340	53

1. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
2. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
3. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
4. Six appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Benfica Youth

• UEFA Youth League runner-up: 2013–14 ^[29]

Benfica

• Primeira Liga: 2015–16 ^[27]

Sporting CP

• Primeira Liga: 2020–21, ^[15] 2023–24 ^[30]
• Taça da Liga: 2020–21, ^[31] 2021–22 ^[32]
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2021 ^[33]

Individual

• Primeira Liga Goal of the Month: March 2023 ^[34]

References

1. "Nuno Santos" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
2. Figueiredo, Ricardo (12 May 2015). "Olheiro BnR – Nuno Santos" [BnR scout – Nuno Santos] (in Portuguese). Bola Na Rede. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
3. "Benfica B-Sp. Covilhã, 3–1: Uma dor de cabeça chamada Gonçalo Guedes" [Benfica B-Sp. Covilhã, 3–1: A pain in the ass called Gonçalo Guedes]. Record (in Portuguese). 30 August 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
4. "Nuno Santos: "Jogámos muito bem e controlámos o jogo"" [Nuno Santos: "We played very well and controlled the match"] (in Portuguese). S.L. Benfica. 30 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
5. "Sp. Braga B-Benfica B, 3–2: Penálti ao cair do pano foi decisivo" [Sp. Braga B-Benfica B, 3–2: Last-second penalty proved decisive]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 December 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
6. "Benfica B-Oliveirense, 4–1: Sarkic e Nuno Santos arrasadores" [Benfica B-Oliveirense, 4–1: Sarkic and Nuno Santos devastating]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 February 2015. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
7. Ruela, João (11 September 2015). "Benfica assina a maior goleada dos últimos 35 anos contra o Belenenses" [Benfica sign biggest thrashing of the last 35 years against Belenenses]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
8. Lopes Pereira, Ricardo (7 August 2016). "Nuno Santos pronto para o regresso" [Nuno Santos ready for return]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 3 August 2020.
9. "Nuno Santos regressa "a casa"" [Nuno Santos returns "home"] (in Portuguese). Rio Ave F.C. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
10. "FC Porto vence Rio Ave e recupera liderança" [FC Porto beat Rio Ave and recover lead]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 17 September 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
11. "Má notícia no Rio Ave: Nuno Santos sofre lesão grave" [Bad news at Rio Ave: Nuno Santos sufferes serious injury]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 16 July 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
12. "Nuno Santos reage a insultos e atira: "O Benfica não me paga as contas ao fim do mês"" [Nuno Santos reacts to insults and shoots back: "Benfica don't pay my bills at the end of the month"]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 18 June 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2020.
13. "Nuno Santos reforça Sporting CP" [Nuno Santos bolsters Sporting CP] (in Portuguese). Sporting CP. 21 August 2020. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
14. "Oficial: Nuno Santos reforça Sporting" [Official: Nuno Santos bolsters Sporting]. Record (in Portuguese). 21 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
15. Kundert, Tom (11 May 2021). "10 reasons why Sporting are Champions of Portugal". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
16. Soares Ribeiro, João; Almeida Gonçalves, Vítor (29 October 2021). "Nuno Santos ataca melhor temporada" [Nuno Santos chasing best season]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 December 2021.
17. "Conceição: "Não contava que não jogasse o Nuno Santos, Paulinho, Morita"" [Conceição: "I wasn't expecting that Nuno Santos, Paulinho, Morita did not play"] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
18. Tornesi, Duarte; Cortez, Rodrigo (27 February 2023). "Nuno Santos visto como o jogador ideal para fazer esquecer Kostic" [Nuno Santos seen as the ideal player to make people forget about Kostic]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 26 September 2023.
19. "Sporting: 29 campeões, entre eles quatro guarda-redes e um jogador... despromovido" [Sporting: 29 champions, including four goalkeepers and a... relegated player] (in Portuguese). Televisão Independente. 19 May 2024. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
20. Soares Ribeiro, João; Almeida Gonçalves, Vítor (27 October 2024). "Acabou a época: Nuno Santos tem rotura do tendão do joelho direito" [Season over: Nuno Santos has ruptured right-knee tendon]. Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 October 2024.
21. "Nuno Santos já telefonou à adepta ferida por vidro partido na Supertaça em Aveiro" [Nuno Santos has already called fan injured by smashed glass in the Supercup in Aveiro]. Record (in Portuguese). 4 August 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
22. "Nuno Santos castigado por oito jogos por ferimentos causados por vidro na Supertaça" [Nuno Santos with eight-match ban for glass-related injuries in Supercup]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 18 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
23. Rua, Mitchell (31 May 2015). "U20 World Cup: Portugal lay down a marker". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
24. Rua, Mitchell (6 June 2015). "Portugal make it perfect three out of three at U20 World Cup". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
25. "Sub-21: Portugal-Albânia, 4–0 (resultado final)" [Under-21: Portugal-Albania, 4–0 (final score)] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 12 November 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
26. "A lista de pré-convocados da Seleção para o Mundial'2022: conheça todos os nomes" [The pre-selected for the 2022 World Cup: know all the names]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
27. Nuno Santos at Soccerway
28. Nuno Santos – UEFA competition record ( archive )
29. Adams, Sam (14 April 2014). "El Haddadi magic secures title for Barcelona". UEFA. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
30. Kundert, Tom (6 May 2024). "Seven reasons Sporting are champions of Portugal". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
31. Ribeiro, Patrick (23 January 2021). "Sporting battle their way to League Cup glory with victory over Braga". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
32. Ribeiro, Patrick (29 January 2022). "Sporting defend their Taça da Liga title in second-half turnaround versus Benfica". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
33. "Sporting CP win Supertaça with victory over SC Braga". Sporting CP. 31 July 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
34. "Nuno Santos' rabona wins Goal of the Month in Liga Portugal bwin for March". Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.

External links

• Nuno Santos at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Nuno Santos national team profile at the Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese)