João Pedro Pereira Silva (born 21 May 1990) 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 striker for

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pr ...

club

Felgueiras Felgueiras () is a municipality in Porto District, Portugal. The current mayor is Nuno Fonseca. There are two cities located in the municipality: Felgueiras (city status received on 13 July 1990) and Lixa. The population in 2011 was 58,065, in a ...

Club career

Born in

Vila das Aves Vila may refer to: People *Vila (surname) Places Andorra * Vila, Andorra, a town in the parish of Encamp Brazil * Vila Bela da Santíssima Trindade, a municipality in the State of Mato Grosso * Vila Boa, Goiás, a municipality in the State ...

Santo Tirso Santo Tirso () is a city and municipality located in the north of Porto Metropolitan Area, 25 km from central Porto, Portugal. In the region, the Ave Valley, there is a large center of textile industry. The population in 2021 was 67,709, in ...

, Silva joined the youth system of local C.D. Aves at the age of 10. He eventually made his professional debut for the club during the 2009–10 season, with the northerners in the Segunda Liga, and made an immediate impact by finishing as the league's second top scorer with 14 goals as the team finished comfortably in mid-table. Silva signed for

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 ...

side Everton on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, on 9 June 2010. In the last hours of the following

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, without having made any official appearances with the Toffees, he returned to Portugal, joining U.D. Leiria on loan. On 14 May 2011, the last matchday of the campaign, he scored two of his four goals in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

for the team, in a 3–3 away draw against

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

. For 2011–12, Silva continued on loan and in his country's top division, joining Vitória de Setúbal. He scored in his first competitive game, a 2–1 home win over F.C. Paços de Ferreira, netting in the 91st minute. On 31 January 2012, he was recalled from his loan. On 9 July 2012, Silva joined

PFC Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First Professional Football League (Bulgaria), First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was ...

on a three-year deal. He made his official debut ten days later, as a substitute in a

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 ...

qualifying match against

FK Sarajevo Fudbalski klub Sarajevo ( sh-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Сарајево; , English language, English: Sarajevo Football Club), is a professional Association football, football Sports club, club based in Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosn ...

. Released by Levski in summer 2013, Silva took his game to Italy, where he represented A.S. Bari and

U.S. Città di Palermo Palermo Football Club () is an Italian professional football club based in Palermo, Sicily, that currently plays in Serie B. It is part of the City Football Group. Founded for the first time on 1 November 1900 as Anglo Palermitan Athletic and F ...

, the first club from

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

and the second in the

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. He left the latter on 26 August 2015, signing a one-year contract with Paços de Ferreira the following day. Silva returned to the Italian second tier in January 2016, remaining there until June 2017 in service of

US Avellino 1912 Unione Sportiva Avellino 1912, commonly referred to as US Avellino 1912, is an Italian professional football club based in Avellino, Campania. It competes in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football. It is the official continuity club of U ...

and

US Salernitana 1919 Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

. He moved back to his country subsequently, with

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese association football, football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of football in ...

. He scored only 13 competitive goals in a two-year spell, being relegated from the main division in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Silva competed in China the following years, with Nantong Zhiyun FC, Zibo Cuju FC ( League One) and Hebei FC (

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

). He returned to Portugal in September 2022, with the 32-year-old signing a one-year deal with C.F. Estrela da Amadora. Having helped the side to return to the top flight, he left as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. On 12 September 2023, Silva joined

Super League Greece 2 The Super League Greece 2 () is the second division of professional Association football, football in Greece, serving as a feeder league to the top level Super League Greece, Super League 1. Made up of 20 teams in two groups, it is usually played ...

club Ionikos FC. He then had a brief spell in the

Bahraini Premier League The Bahraini Premier League is the main domestic football competition in the kingdom of Bahrain. Currently known as the Nasser bin Hamad Premier League, the first season was held in 1956-1957. The winners of the domestic championship qualify f ...

with Al-Ahli Club (Manama).

International career

Silva won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the Portugal under-21 team on 18 May 2010 – three days shy of his 20th birthday – replacing Orlando Sá for the last 21 minutes of a 3–1 friendly win over the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

played in

Vila Real de Santo António Vila Real de Santo António () is a city, civil parish, and municipality in the Algarve, Portugal. The population in 2011 was 19,156, in an area of 61.25 km2. It is one of the few municipalities in Portugal without territorial continuity: its ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* * *
Levski official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Joao 1990 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Santo Tirso Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players C.D. Aves players U.D. Leiria players Vitória F.C. players F.C. Paços de Ferreira players C.D. Feirense players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players F.C. Felgueiras (2006) players Everton F.C. players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players PFC Levski Sofia players Serie A players Serie B players SSC Bari players Palermo FC players US Avellino 1912 players US Salernitana 1919 players Chinese Super League players China League One players Nantong Zhiyun F.C. players Zibo Cuju F.C. players Hebei F.C. players Super League Greece 2 players Ionikos F.C. players Bahraini Premier League players Al Ahli Club (Manama) players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Bahrain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in China Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bahrain