Carlos Roberto Forbs Borges (born 19 March 2004) 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 a winger for Belgian club

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Sintra Sintra (, ), officially the Town of Sintra (), is a town and municipality in the Greater Lisbon region of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The population of the municipality in 2021 was 385,654, in an area of . Sintra is one of the ...

Lisboa Region Lisbon Region () is one of the seven NUTS II designated regions of Portugal, which coincides with the NUTS III subregion Lisbon metropolitan area, Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The region covers an area of 3001.95 km2 (the smallest region on main ...

, Forbs started playing football there, before enjoying a season-short spell at

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,

in the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

. He moved to England at the age of around 11, where he attended high-school at the Cooperative Academy of Leeds, but soon caught the eye of many

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 ...

scouts, joining the Manchester City academy in 2015. In Manchester, he progressed through all of the youth categories, becoming a regular provider of goals and assists with the under-18 and under-23 teams, as City won both national tournaments between 2020 and 2022. He was named under-18 player of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

for Manchester City in May 2021. By the end of 2021, he made his Youth League debut, scoring the only goal in a 1–0 away

pool Pool may refer to: Bodies of water * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a roc ...

win against

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig or informally as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company ...

. He made headlines in September 2022, as he scored a hat-trick and delivered an assist during Manchester City's opening game of the Youth League, a 5–1 away win against

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. He also proved to be instrumental a month later, with a goal and an assist in the 3–1 win at

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. In the 2022–23 season, he scored 25 goals and provided 13 assists in all competitions for Manchester City U21.

Ajax

On 3 August 2023, Forbs signed for

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 ...

club

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

on a five-year contract in a €14 million deal, which could rise to €19 million with variables. Nine days later, he made his professional debut for the

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

side, coming off the bench to replace

Brian Brobbey Brian Ebenezer Adjei Brobbey (born 1 February 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club Ajax and the Netherlands national team. Club career Early career Brobbey began his youth career with AFC before ...

in the final minutes of a 4–1 home victory over

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to t ...

, in the

2023–24 Eredivisie The 2023–24 Eredivisie was the 68th season of Eredivisie, the premier football competition in the Netherlands. It began on 11 August 2023 and concluded on 19 May 2024. PSV Eindhoven broke the record for most points in an Eredivisie season, wi ...

's opening game-week. Ten days later, in the next league match, away to

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

, Forbs started and assisted Brobbey's opener, before being replaced by

Davy Klaassen Davy Klaassen (born 21 February 1993) is a Dutch professional Association football, footballer who plays as an midfielder for Eredivisie club AFC Ajax, Ajax and the Netherlands national football team, Netherlands national team. Club career Earl ...

in the 60th minute; the game ended in a 2–2 draw. On 24 August, he made his debut in

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

competitions, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 4–1 win away at

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

, in the

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 ...

play-off round The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

. On 21 September, in an Europa League group stage match at home to

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, Forbs scored his first professional goal and also provided an assist; the game ended in a 3–3 draw.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 30 August 2024, Forbs returned to England and joined

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on an initial season-long loan.

International career

Born in Portugal, Forbs is of Bissau-Guinean descent. He is a youth international for Portugal. By 2022, he became a regular starter with the Portuguese under-19s. On 8 September 2023, Forbs made his debut for Portugal's under-21s, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–0 home win over

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

, in a qualifier for the

2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2025) is the ongoing 25th edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (28th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth Assoc ...

Personal life

Formerly known as Carlos Borges, the player has opted to play using his mother's surname as Carlos Forbs since he joined

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in August 2023.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Individual *UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbs, Carlos 2004 births Living people Footballers from Sintra Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Black Portuguese sportspeople Men's association football wingers Manchester City F.C. players AFC Ajax players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Club Brugge KV players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen