Matheus Luiz Nunes (born 27 August 1998) is a 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and the Portugal national team. Nunes started his career with Ericeirense, before moving to

LigaPro 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 ...

side

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

. During his time with the club, Nunes played mostly in the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, before moving to

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 ...

side

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 January 2019. With Sporting, Nunes won a

title and back-to-back Taças da Liga in

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, while being part of the squad that won a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

in 2021. In August, Nunes signed with

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

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 ...

for a club-record transfer worth €45 million (£38 million), before moving to fellow Premier League side Manchester City the following season. Born and raised in Brazil until 12 years old, Nunes opted to play for the Portugal national team, and made his senior international debut in 2021, representing the side at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, his father left his family, Nunes moved to

Ericeira Ericeira () is a civil parish and seaside community on the western coast of Portugal (in Mafra municipality, located 35km northwest of the center of Lisbon, about 45km by road) considered the surfing capital of Europe. It is also one of only two ...

Lisbon District Lisbon District () is a district located along the western coast of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Lisbon, which is also the national capital. From its creation until 1926, it included the area of the current Setúbal District. ...

at the age of 12 with his mother and his English stepfather. He started playing football with local side Ericeirense in the 6th division, and to help his family he also worked at his godfather's bakery for a short period while playing. Nunes made his senior debut for Ericeirense during the 2015–16 season, in the

Lisbon Football Association The Lisbon Football Association (''Associação de Futebol de Lisboa''; AF Lisboa) is the district governing body for the all football competitions in the Portuguese district of Lisbon. It is also the regulator of the clubs registered in the di ...

. He started the 2017 pre-season on trial at

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

, but was not signed due to a thigh injury, and subsequently returned to his first club.

Estoril

Nunes signed with

in the summer of 2018. He made his debut in the

on 14 October in a 2–2 draw against Varzim, starting but leaving injured shortly before the end of the first half. During most of his spell, he was associated to the

Sporting CP

On 29 January 2019, Nunes joined

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,

of the

on a five-and-a-half-year contract for a €500,000 fee for half of his economic rights, and a €45 million

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

. His performances against Sporting for Estoril in the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

group stage in the 2018–19 season was noted by Sporting scouting team, who decided to sign him. After playing for the club's under-23 team, Nunes received his first call-up to the first team by manager

Ruben Amorim Ruben Filipe Marques Amorim (; born 27 January 1985) is a Portuguese Professional association football, professional football Manager (association football), manager, a former player and the current manager of Premier League club Manchester Unit ...

on 4 June 2020, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 2–2 draw at

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

in the Primeira Liga. On 23 October, he agreed to a contract extension by a further year, increasing his

from €45 million to €60 million, with the club deciding to pay Estoril €450,000 for the other half of his economic rights. Nunes scored his first goal in the Portuguese top division on 2 January 2021, closing the 2–0 home victory over

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. His second came the following 1 February, in

injury time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the ga ...

to help the hosts defeat Benfica 1–0 in the

Lisbon derby The Derby de Lisboa or Dérbi de Lisboa (English: Lisbon derby) is the biggest List of association football club rivalries in Europe#Portugal, football derby match in Portugal. It is played between Lisbon-based clubs S.L. Benfica, Benfica and Spo ...

, being named man of the match. Following the departure of João Mário, he earned a permanent place in the starting eleven, and on 15 September, on in his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut, he provided an assist for

Paulinho Paulinho is a Portuguese nickname for people named ''Paulo'' (Paulo - inho, little Paulo). People known as Paulinho include: Music *Paulinho da Costa (born 1948), Brazilian percussionist *Paulinho da Viola (born 1942), Brazilian sambista *Paulinho ...

in a 5–1 away defeat to

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 ...

. After helping Sporting on a run of six consecutive league wins, including the

against Benfica, where provided an assist and scored a goal in a 3–1 away victory, Nunes was named the league's Midfielder of the Month for the months of October and November. On 15 February 2022, in the first leg of the round of 16 tie of the Champions League, despite his team 5–0 home loss to

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

, who was impressed by the calibre of Nunes' performances, praised him as "one of the best players in the world".

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 17 August 2022, Nunes signed a five-year contract with English

club

for a club-record transfer worth €45 million (£38 million), surpassing the former record signing compatriot Fábio Silva. Nunes made his Wolves debut three days later, as a starter in a 1–0 defeat against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

at the

Tottenham Hotspur Stadium Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the home of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur in North London, replacing the club's previous ground, White Hart Lane. With a seating capacity of 62,850, it is the List of football stadium ...

in the Premier League on 20 August 2022. Nunes made his home Premier League debut in a 1–1 draw with

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

at Molineux on 28 August 2022. Nunes scored his first goal for Wolves in their 1–0 home win against Chelsea on 8 April 2023. During the early stages of the 2023–24 season, Nunes began a dispute with Wolves over his desire to leave the club after they had rejected a transfer bid for him worth £47 million from

. Nunes failed to turn up for training with the club, without the permission of manager Gary O'Neil for two consecutive days in a bid to secure a move away from the club, and was subsequently fined.

Manchester City

On 30 August 2023, it was reported that a £53 million bid from Manchester City with no additional add-ons had been agreed. The transfer was confirmed on 1 September 2023. The Portuguese international signed a five-year deal with the reigning European and English champions. Nunes made his Manchester City debut on 16 September, coming off the bench to replace

Phil Foden Philip Walter Foden (born 28 May 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Manchester City and the England national team. Foden's breakthrough into professional football came in 2017 when he won the FIF ...

on the 67th minute of a 3–1 league victory away at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Three days later, he made his first start for the ''Citizens'', playing the full 90 minuted in a 3–1 home win over

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

in the UEFA Champions League. Four days later, Nunes made his first Premier League start for City, playing the full match in a 2–0 home victory over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, where he assisted

Erling Haaland Erling Braut Haaland (, ; born 21 July 2000) is a Norwegian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the Norway national football te ...

for the second goal. Nunes won his first trophy at City on 22 December, as the team beat

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club () is a Brazilian sports club based in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, being the oldest football club in the state since its foundation in 1902. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, th ...

4–0, with Nunes assisting Julian Álvarez's winning goal in the

2023 FIFA Club World Cup final The 2023 FIFA Club World Cup Final was the final match of the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup, an international club football tournament hosted by Saudi Arabia. It was the 20th final of the FIFA Club World Cup, a FIFA-organised tournament between the ...

. Nunes scored his first City goal on 24 September 2024 in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

, scoring the decisive goal in a 2–1 home win over

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

. He scored his first Champions League goal on 23 October against

Sparta Prague Athletic Club Sparta Praha (), commonly known as Sparta Prague and Sparta Praha, is a professional football club based in Prague. It is the most successful club in the Czech Republic and one of the most successful in central Europe, winning t ...

with a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

, while also recording two assists in a 5–0 home win. On 22 April 2025, Nunes scored his first Premier League goal, a 94th minute winner, in a 2–1 home victory over

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

International career

On 8 August 2021, after living in the country for ten years, Nunes received his

Portuguese passport A Portuguese passport () is an identity document issued to citizens of Portugal for the purpose of international travel. The passport, along with the Citizen Card (Portugal), Citizen Card allows for free rights of movement and residence in any ...

. Late in that month, on his 23rd birthday, he was called up by Brazil national team manager Tite as one of nine replacements for the players based in the United Kingdom, for three

qualifiers against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

; He refused the call, as he would have had to quarantine on return due not having the complete

COVID-19 vaccination A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and func ...

. Ultimately, Nunes decided not to represent his country of birth, after he was contacted by Portugal's national team manager Fernando Santos, who convinced him to represent

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Nunes was called by Santos on 30 September 2021 for World Cup qualifiers against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

and a friendly with

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. He 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 ...

on 9 October, starting the 3–0 friendly win over Qatar in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

. He scored his first international goal the following 22 March in a 3–1 home win over

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in the semi-finals of the qualification play-offs. In October, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

in Qatar, being included in the final 26-man squad for the tournament. On 3 June 2024, he was named in the squad for the

, as a replacement to the injured Otávio, where Portugal was eliminated from the tournament by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the quarter-finals, after losing 5–3 in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Style of play

Nunes is usually deployed in double pivot in

3–4–3 In association football, the formation of a team refers to the position players take in relation to each other on a pitch. As association football is a fluid and fast-moving game, a player's position (with the exception of the goalkeeper) in a ...

formation, operating as a number 8 looking to get forward and contribute to the attack and also has a good passing range, as he can make different types of passes whether he is looking to switch the play or try and break lines with penetrative passes, or passes that split the opposition backline, which he is highly effective at. He also has the ability to carry the ball and make progressive runs, using a combination of speed and strength to make these runs, while also displaying good technique on the ball. Nunes also possesses good anticipation and reading of the game, which allows him to make effective interceptions and challenges.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Nunes goal''

Honours

Sporting CP *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

, 2021–22 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

Manchester City *

: 2023–24 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

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 ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

runner-up: 2023–24, 2024–25 Individual *Primeira Liga Midfielder of the Month: October/November 2021 *Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2021–22 *

Premier League Goal of the Month The Premier League Goal of the Month is an association football award that recognises the player who is deemed to have scored the best Premier League goal each month of the season from August to April. The winner is chosen by a combination of ...

: April 2023

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester City F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nunes, Matheus 1998 births Living people Brazilian people of Portuguese descent Portuguese people of Brazilian descent Sportspeople of Portuguese descent Sportspeople of Brazilian descent Brazilian emigrants to Portugal Naturalised citizens of Portugal Brazilian men's footballers Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Rio de Janeiro (city) Men's association football midfielders G.D. Estoril Praia players Sporting CP footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players Premier League players Portugal men's international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen