A dominant force in the centre of the pitch, João arrives with a wealth of accolades under his belt. He won the Taça da Liga in his early days at Braga, tasted glory in the 2020/21 Primeira Liga with Sporting Lisbon, lifted two more Taça da Liga titles and the Supertaça with them, then won the Bundesliga at Bayern last season. Over the summer, he was part of the Portugal national side that secured the UEFA Nations League title.
Fulham’s Player of the Season in 2022/23, he made 79 appearances, scored eight goals and made more tackles than any other player in the Premier League during his two years at Craven Cottage.
“I think my type of game, it belongs to the Premier League,” said the 30-year-old, discussing what he hopes to bring to our team on the pitch. “I’ve always said that I really enjoyed the two seasons that I had at Fulham, it was a dream come true and probably one of the best memories I have in my football career belonged to the Premier League. I really enjoyed playing against top teams, also against Tottenham in that moment and now I can be part of this, such a great club.
“I’m a player with a lot of hunger to win tackles, as you know. It’s one of my main focuses in the game, to try to help my team-mates without the ball to recover as soon as possible and of course when we have the ball, try to play simple, to try to give the team the best options. If I need to choose a word to describe me, it’s going to be a “hungry” player for sure.”