João Mendes (footballer, born 1994)

João Sabino Mendes Neto Saraiva (born 21 October 1994), known as Mendes, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Académica de Coimbra as a midfielder.

João Mendes
Personal information
Full name João Sabino Mendes Neto Saraiva
Date of birth (1994-10-21) 21 October 1994
Place of birth Matosinhos, Portugal
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Académica
Number 16
Youth career
2002–2007 Leixões
2007–2008 Pedras Rubras
2008–2012 Leixões
2012–2013 Gondomar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Gondomar 16 (2)
2014–2015 Gouveia 31 (5)
2015 Nogueirense 7 (1)
2015–2016 Operário 19 (4)
2016–2019 Oliveirense 56 (5)
2018–2019 → Tondela (loan) 4 (0)
2019– Académica 19 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 March 2020

Club career

Born in Matosinhos, Porto District, Mendes played youth football for four clubs, notably having two spells at local Leixões SC. He spent his first four seasons as a senior in the third division, representing in quick succession Gondomar SC, CD Gouveia, AD Nogueirense, CD Operário and U.D. Oliveirense; in 2016–17, he scored three goals in 27 matches to help the latter team to promotion to the LigaPro.[1]

Mendes made his professional debut with Oliveirense on 27 August 2017, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 0–1 away loss against F.C. Famalicão.[2] He scored his first goal in the competition the following 11 April, but in a 2–3 away defeat to C.D. Cova da Piedade.[3]

In the summer of 2018, Mendes signed with Primeira Liga side C.D. Tondela on a one-year loan deal.[4] Even though there initially was an agreement to make the move permanent at the end of that spell,[5] nothing came of it and he joined Académica de Coimbra instead.[6]

References
  1. Brito, Marcelo (21 June 2017). "Quando é preciso dar um passo atrás para dar... dois à frente?" [When does one have to take one step back to take... two forward?] (in Portuguese). Fair Play. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  2. "Famalicão-Oliveirense, 1–0: Golo solitário de Nuno Diogo define encontro" [Famalicão-Oliveirense, 1–0: Lone goal from Nuno Diogo settles match]. Record (in Portuguese). 27 August 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  3. "Cova da Piedade opera reviravolta e foge dos lugares de descida" [Cova da Piedade manage to come from behind and leave relegation zone]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 11 April 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  4. "Médio João Mendes reforça Tondela" [Midfielder João Mendes bolsters Tondela]. Record (in Portuguese). 2 July 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  5. "João Mendes deve continuar" [João Mendes likely to continue]. Record (in Portuguese). 5 June 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  6. "João Mendes oficializado na Académica" [João Mendes made official at Académica]. Record (in Portuguese). 30 August 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.