Diego Moreira

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Not to be confused with Diogo Moreira.

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This name uses Portuguese naming customs. The first or maternal family name is Silva and the second or paternal family name is Moreira.

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Diego Moreira
File:Diego Moreira.jpg
Moreira with Benfica in 2022
Personal information
Full name Diego Manuel Jadon da Silva Moreira
Date of birth (2004-August-06) 6 August 2004 (age Expression error: Unrecognized word "august".)Expression error: Unrecognized word "august".
Place of birth Liège, Belgium
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Chelsea
Number 43
Youth career
0000–2020 Standard Liège
2020–2021 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2023 Benfica B 25 (3)
2022–2023 Benfica 1 (0)
2023– Chelsea 0 (0)
2023–2024 → Lyon (loan) 7 (0)
International career‡
2019 Belgium U15 2 (0)
2019–2020 Portugal U16 12 (1)
2021 Portugal U18 8 (1)
2022–2023 Portugal U19 12 (2)
2023– Portugal U20 4 (0)
2023– Portugal U21 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 January 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:02, 21 November 2023 (UTC)

Diego Manuel Jadon da Silva Moreira (Portuguese pronunciation: [diˈɛɣu muˈɾɐjɾɐ]; born 6 August 2004), also known as Moreira Jr. is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Chelsea. Born in Belgium, he is a Portuguese youth international.

Early life

Moreira was born in Liège, where his father, former Guinea-Bissau international Almami Moreira, was then playing professional football at Standard de Liege.[2][3][4] From his mother's side, Diego is the grandson of Helmut Graf, a German-born footballer who also played for the Belgian club from 1976 to 1982.[5][6][7]

Club career

Early career

Coming through the youth ranks at Standard—where his father played until 2006[6]— Moreira first tried to leave the club in 2019 for personal reasons, training with Lierse Kempenzonen, but with the Belgian federation eventually not approving his move.[8] He ended up leaving Les Rouches for Benfica in August 2020, signing his first professional contract with the club from Lisbon, where his father lived.[2][3][4][9]

Benfica

Moreira started to play with Benfica's under-23 in the Liga Revelação midway through the 2020–21 season.[10] During the following season, he became a regular starter with the U23 team—scoring his first goal with the team during a 3–0 derby win against Sporting.[11] He made his professional debut for Benfica B on the 10 January 2022, replacing Tiago Gouveia for the last 15 minutes of a 1–2 home Segunda Liga loss to rivals Porto B.[12][13]

He played a major role in the UEFA Youth League, where Benfica U19 topped their group against Dynamo Kyiv, Barcelona and Bayern Munich, Moreira most notably scoring a goal against the latter during a 4–0 home win in October 2021.[4][14][15] In the final phases, he scored a brace and provided two assists in a 4–0 derby win against Sporting in the quarter-finals; and provided another two assists in the final in a 6–0 win over Red Bull Salzburg to help Benfica win their first Youth League title, and their first title in European football since the 1961–62 European Cup.[16]

Under interim manager Nélson Veríssimo, Moreira was promoted to Benfica's first team alongside seven other Benfica youth team players, making his debut on 13 May 2022, in a 2–0 away win to Paços de Ferreira in the Primeira Liga.[17] However, after refusing to sign a new contract during the pre-season, he was demoted to the B team, and sporadically appeared for the latter, with the team's manager Luís Castro deeming his situation "difficult", before returning to the under-23's for the rest of the season.[18]

Chelsea

On 1 July 2023, Moreira joined Premier League club Chelsea, following the expiration of his contract with Benfica.[19] On 30 August 2023, he made his debut for the club starting in their EFL Cup second round tie against AFC Wimbledon, featuring for 45 minutes in the eventual 2–1 victory.[20]

Lyon (loan)

On 1 September 2023, Moreira joined Ligue 1 club Lyon on a season-long loan.[21] He made his debut for the club on 17 September, coming off the bench to replace Ernest Nuamah on the 77th minute of a 0–0 league draw at home to Le Havre.[22] Six days later, he made his first start for Les Gones, playing 52 minutes in a 1–0 league loss away at Brest.[23]

On 22 January 2024, Moreira was recalled from his loan by Chelsea.[24]

International career

A dual citizen of Belgium and Portugal[8][25]—while also eligible to play for both Guinea-Bissau and Germany—Moreira first played with the Belgium under-15 as he was a starter during their 3–1 win against England at St George's Park in February 2019.[26][27]

But even before leaving to play his club football in Portugal, the youngster chose to switch for the Lusitanian selection in 2019, becoming a regular with the under-16[3][4] and—after a covid-interrupted 2020–21 season—with the under-18.[28][29][30]

Style of play

A left-footed winger able to play on both sides of the attack, Moreira is described as a fast, explosive and technically gifted footballer, most notably excelling in dribbling past his opponent. He is compared to the likes of Portuguese international Nani.[31]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 January 2024 [32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Benfica B 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 1 0 — — — 1 0
2022–23 Liga Portugal 2 24 3 — — — 24 3
Total 25 3 — — — 25 3
Benfica 2021–22 Primeira Liga 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2022–23 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 1 0
Total 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
Chelsea 2023–24 Premier League 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 0
Lyon (loan) 2023–24 Ligue 1 7 0 2 0 — — 9 0
Career total 33 3 2 0 1 0 1 0 37 3
  1. ↑ Appearance in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Benfica U19

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Diego Moreira at Soccerway
  33. ↑ Raio X de Jogador Diego Moreira Benfica zerozero.pt
  34. ↑ Conheça os 24 heróis da Youth League (Benfica)
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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