Rui Pedro da Rocha Fonte (born 23 April 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 ...

who plays as a forward or a

right winger A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for F.C. Famalicão. After signing for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

as a 16-year-old, he only made one competitive appearance for the club before signing with Sporting, who loaned him several times for the duration of his contract, including at Espanyol, who acquired him permanently in 2011. He subsequently joined Benfica, where injury problems saw him feature sparingly until his release; with his next team,

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (i ...

, he notably won the 2016 Portuguese Cup. All youth levels comprised, Fonte earned 69

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for

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, In recognized minority languages of Portugal: :* mwl, República Pertuesa is a country located on the Iberian Peninsula, in Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Macaronesian ...

, scoring 26 goals.

Club career

Early years and Arsenal

Fonte was born in Lisbon, and joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional fo ...

's youth system at only nine. In 2006 he signed a three-year deal with

, with a clause stating he was to return to his previous club if the English did not extend the contract beyond the original period. A regular member of Arsenal's reserves, Fonte made his debut for the first team in a

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

against Barnet in the 2008 pre-season. He made his competitive debut for the Gunners as a substitute for Carlos Vela in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

match against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 193 ...

on 11 November 2008, a 3–0 home win. On 30 January 2009, Fonte joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

side Crystal Palace on a one-month loan, with his older brother

José José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernac ...

playing a big role in persuading club and player of each other's merits. He made his debut for his new team in a 0–1 home defeat to

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

on the following day, and his loan was subsequently extended until the end of the season; Palace were docked a point and fined £20,000 for fielding him in their final match, despite his loan having expired. On 19 May 2009, it was announced that Arsenal had decided not to extend Fonte's three-year contract, and the player returned to Sporting. He spent the 2009–10 campaign on loan to Vitória de Setúbal, making his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

debut on 17 August in a 0–0 home draw against Vitória de Guimarães (one minute played) and appearing sparingly during the campaign as they barely escaped relegation.

Espanyol

Fonte played

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

on loan to

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, in Spain. He spent the vast majority of his spell with the reserves, his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

appearances consisting of one minute in a 1–0 home victory over

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting (although in an international context this can lead to confusion with Sporting Clube de Portugal) is a Spanish football club from Gijón, P ...

on 5 December 2010, and ten in a 0–1 loss to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

also at the ''

Estadi Cornellà-El Prat RCDE Stadium, also known as Estadi Cornellà-El Prat (; es, Estadio Cornellà-El Prat ), is an all-seater football stadium on the outskirts of Cornellà de Llobregat and El Prat de Llobregat, in the wider Barcelona urban area (Catalonia, Spai ...

'' two months later. On 14 July 2011, Fonte signed permanently for two years. On 17 January of the following year he scored his first official goal for the ''Pericos'', in a 3–2 home defeat of CD Mirandés in the quarter-finals of the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

; he repeated the feat in the second leg, albeit in a 2–1 and 4–4 aggregate defeat. In between, he scored his first goal in the league, closing the 3–0 home win over Granada CF.

Benfica

Fonte terminated his contract with Espanyol on 29 January 2013 and, on the next day, signed with S.L. Benfica on a five-and-a-half-year deal. He was initially assigned to the B side in the Segunda Liga, suffering a knee injury in his debut against C.F. União and being sidelined for the rest of the campaign. In January 2015, Jorge Jesus confirmed that Fonte was promoted to the first team after the loan of

Nélson Oliveira Nélson Miguel Castro Oliveira (; born 8 August 1991) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Greek Super League club PAOK. Formed at S.L. Benfica, he made 24 appearances and scored three goals for the club, whi ...

. His first competitive appearance took place on the 14th, as he played the first half of the 4–0 home win against

F.C. Arouca Futebol Clube de Arouca () is a football club based in Arouca, Porto Metropolitan Area, Portugal. Founded in 1951, the club plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Estádio Municipal de Arouca, with a 5,000-seat capacity. History Founde ...

the third round ''The Third Round'' (1925) was the second silent film adaptation of the Bulldog Drummond character, starring Jack Buchanan and Betty Faire, adapted by Sidney Morgan from the novel of the same name by H. C. McNeile, and directed by Morgan. Cas ...

of the

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

. On 2 February 2015, Fonte, at the time top scorer for Benfica B with 17 goals in 21 matches, was loaned to C.F. Os Belenenses until the end of the season. For 2015–16, he moved to S.C. Braga also on loan.

Braga

On 16 December 2015, after having replaced

Wilson Eduardo Wilson Bruno Naval da Costa Eduardo (born 8 July 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish club Alanyaspor. He was formed at Sporting CP, but spent most of his time out on loan. In 2015 he joined Braga, with who ...

for the last 11 minutes of regulation time, Fonte scored the 4–3 winner for the hosts against Sporting, helping oust his former club from the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seas ...

. The following 22 May, after being injured for nearly three months, he started in the final of the domestic cup, netting in a 2–2 draw against

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Por ...

(4–2

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 ...

win). Fonte agreed to a permanent three-year contract with Braga on 1 September 2016. He scored 11 goals during the campaign (15 overall), helping to a fifth-place finish.

Fulham

On 17 August 2017, Fonte transferred to Championship club

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

after signing a three-year contract. He scored in his second league appearance, a 2–0 away victory over Ipswich Town. Fonte joined

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played i ...

from France on 31 August 2018 on a

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 tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and po ...

-long loan, reuniting with his older brother José Fonte. His only goal for the eventual

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

runners-up came on 28 April 2019, in a 5–0 home defeat of

Nîmes Olympique Nîmes Olympique (commonly referred to as simply Nîmes) is a French association football club based in Nîmes. The club was founded on 10 April 1937 and currently plays in Ligue 2, the second level of French football. Until November 2022, ...

Return to Braga

Fonte returned to his homeland and Braga on 21 August 2019, signing a three-year deal. He spent the better part of the 2020–21 season on the sidelines, due to a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's ...

injury.

Estoril

On 31 August 2021, Fonte signed a one-year contract with a plus-one option with G.D. Estoril Praia.

International career

Fonte made his debut for the Portugal under-21s against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

on 18 November 2008, scoring the first goal in a 4–1 victory. The following summer, he was part of the team that took silver in the Lusofonia Games, scoring a penalty in a 4–1 win over

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

on the final day. On 31 March 2015, Fonte was called up to the full side for the first time, for a friendly with

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

, remaining on the bench in the 0–2 defeat in

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has ...

Personal life

Fonte's older brother,

, is also a footballer – a defender, he played most of his professional career in England, and the two were teammates at Sporting (youth), Crystal Palace and Lille. Their father, Artur, played 12 seasons in the Portuguese top division.

Club statistics

Honours

Benfica *

: 2014–15 Braga *

: 2015–16,

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 ...

*Taça da Liga: 2019–20 Fulham * EFL Championship play-offs:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Portugal U21 * Lusofonia Games silver medal:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonte, Rui 1990 births Living people Portuguese footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football wingers Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Sporting CP footballers Vitória F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers S.L. Benfica B players C.F. Os Belenenses players S.C. Braga players G.D. Estoril Praia players F.C. Famalicão players English Football League players Arsenal F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Fulham F.C. players La Liga players Tercera División players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Ligue 1 players Lille OSC players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France