 Silva playing forPortugal at the2018 World Cup | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Adrien Sébastien Perruchet da Silva[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1989-03-15)15 March 1989 (age 36)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Angoulême, France | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Bordeaux | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2002 | ARC Paçô | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2007 | Sporting CP | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2017 | Sporting CP | 168 | (32) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010 | →Maccabi Haifa (loan) | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | →Académica (loan) | 34 | (5) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2020 | Leicester City | 14 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | →Monaco (loan) | 37 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2022 | Sampdoria | 41 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Al Wahda | 38 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Rio Ave | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Dubai United | 20 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 368 | (48) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Portugal U16 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Portugal U17 | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | Portugal U18 | 6 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Portugal U19 | 7 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Portugal U21 | 13 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | Portugal | 26 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Adrien Sébastien Perruchet da SilvaComM (French:[adʁijɛ̃sebastjɛ̃pɛʁyʃɛdasilva]; born 15 March 1989)[3] is a former professionalfootballer who played as amidfielder.
He began his career withSporting CP, making his first-team debut at the age of 18. In ten years with the club he played 241 games and scored 39 goals, and won the2008 and2015 Taça de Portugal trophies.[4] He had loan spells withMaccabi Haifa andAcadémica, where he won the Portuguese Cup again. He signed withLeicester City in 2018, then served two loan stints atMonaco.
Born in France, Silva won 46caps forPortugal at youth level, including 13 for theunder-21 team. He made his senior debut in 2014 and played atEuro 2016 and the2018 World Cup, winning the former tournament.
Silva was born inAngoulême,Poitou-Charentes, France, to a Portuguese father and a French mother.[5] He began his football career at the age of 10 withFC Girondins de Bordeaux, but after one year there his father, who worked inaeronautics, returned to Portugal and the family settled inArcos de Valdevez.[6] Silva spent two seasons with local Associação Recreativa e Cultural de Paçô, who later began to host a tournament in his honour, the A.R.C.Paçô–Adrien Silva Tournament, held every June.[7]
Silva then spent six years inSporting CP's academy, and won four national and three regional championships.[8] At the age of 15 he was scouted byChelsea, along withPortugal under-16 teammates Ricardo Fernandes andFábio Ferreira, and the three players trained at the English club's facilities in January 2005. Sporting filed a complaint withFIFA that Chelsea had not followed the correct procedures,[5][9] and Silva stayed with Sporting, although Fernandes and Ferreira did later move to the London club.[10]
In March 2007, Silva signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a five-year deal with Sporting.[5] In July, after spending the final two months ofthe season playing with thereserve team, he was officially promoted to the main squad by managerPaulo Bento ahead of theupcoming campaign.[5] He made hisPrimeira Liga debut on 17 August, taking the field as a latesubstitute in a 4–1 home win againstAcadémica de Coimbra;[11] on 12 December, after appearing as an unused substitute in several league and European matches, he made his first professional start andChampions League debut in a 3–0 victory overFC Dynamo Kyiv.[12] Four days later, he made his first start in the league in a 2–1 win atC.S. Marítimo.[13]
Silva featured in both legs of Sporting's round of 32 win againstBolton Wanderers in the2007–08 UEFA Cup.[14][15] On 16 April he started in the 5–3 win overS.L. Benfica in thesemi-finals of theTaça de Portugal, being replaced after only 35 minutes in what was the last of his 15 appearances of the season.[16]
As in his first year, Silva struggled for minutes in2008–09. He played his first match on 22 November 2008 in a 1–0 league defeat ofAssociação Naval 1º de Maio, playing 16 minutes off the bench.[17] He made his first start in a3–0 home win against Marítimo in theTaça da Liga,[18] and he also made Bento's starting XI three months later in theLions' 7–1 loss toFC Bayern Munich in theChampions League last 16 second leg.[19] He made 19 appearances in all competitions, notably playing the full 90 minutes in home wins against ofC.F. Estrela da Amadora[20] andC.D. Nacional.[21]
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Silva scored his first career goal in aUEFA Europa League group stage match againstHertha BSC, the match-winner in a1–0 win, when he also wassent off after collecting a second yellow card in injury time.[22] On 28 November 2009, in theLisbon derby, which ended 0–0,[23] he made headlines in the Portuguese media because he covered the most distance of any Sporting player, having traveled over 10,049 metres (6.244 mi).[24] CoachCarlos Carvalhal started him in 13 of the team's next 15 matches, but he eventually fell out of favour, as Sporting went on to finish in onlyfourth place with 48 points, the club's worst points total since the1992–93 campaign.[25][26]
On 27 June 2010, it was announced that Silva would be joining Israeli sideMaccabi Haifa F.C. on a season-long loan deal.[27] The move was facilitated by the player's agentPini Zahavi, based inTel Aviv.[28] He made his debut for his new team on 29 July, in the first leg of theEuropa League third qualifying round tie againstFC Dinamo Minsk;[29] he was rarely played in theIsraeli Premier League, but was a regular inthe campaign in theToto Cup.
In January 2011, it was reported that Silva was considering going back to Portugal to regain match fitness. On the 16th, he spoke of his desire, telling daily sports newspaperA Bola: "Returning to Portugal is an option that I like a lot since I can be followed more closely. In Israel, I don't have great visibility";[30] Three days later, a six-month loan to Académica de Coimbra was confirmed.[31]
Silva found the net in his first appearance with theStudents, who were defeated 2–1 away againstS.C. Olhanense.[32] He was again used rarely, but now due to injury problems – he fractured the fifthmetatarsal in his right foot in a game withU.D. Leiria in March, which sidelined him for the rest ofthe season.[33]
On 5 July 2011, Sporting and Académica extended the loan for afurther season.[34] On 26 September, completely recovered from his injury, Silva scored his first career brace in a 4–0 home win againstC.D. Feirense;[35] on 19 November, in thefourth round of the Portuguese Cup, he scored his team's second in a 3–0 shock victory over Porto,[36] adding another double in the next round againstLeixões SC (5–2 afterextra time).[37] He played the full 90 minutes inthe final, a 1–0 defeat of Sporting which saw theCoimbra side lift their first domestic cup in 73 years.[38]
After returning to Sporting, Silva was awarded theclub's Player of the Year award on 28 November 2013.[39] He scored a career-best ten competitive goals in the2014–15 season, while also helping the team reach and winthe final of thePortuguese Cup.[40][41]
In August 2016, Silva confirmed in an interview with Portuguese newspaperO Jogo thatLeicester City were interested in signing him.[42] However, a deal could not be agreed ondeadline day as Sporting wanted the club to pay his £38.5 millionrelease clause.[43] After the move was finally completed, he returned toLisbon on 1 October 2017 and wished his former fans an emotional farewell before the 0–0 draw withFC Porto.[44]
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On 31 August 2017, Sporting agreed a £22 million fee for Silva to move to Leicester City, pending international clearance.[45] The documents relating to his transfer did not reach FIFA until 14 seconds after the deadline; thus, he remained ineligible to play for the club until the next transfer window.[46] In a statement on 24 October, Leicester chose not to appeal to theCourt of Arbitration for Sport as it was made clear to them that "FIFA will not support an expedited process";[47] in an interview withThe Guardian in March 2018, he said it was "a very poor decision" by FIFA, despite his appeals, to uphold his ban.[48]
Silva was officially registered on 1 January 2018, and made his debut that same day as a late substitute in a 3–0 win at home toHuddersfield Town in thePremier League.[49] He was given the number 14 jersey, referring to his transfer difficulties.[50] In a 2–0 defeat ofWatford on 20 January, he came on forJamie Vardy in the 89th minute and provided theassist forRiyad Mahrez's goal instoppage time.[51]
Silva struggled for game time under managerClaude Puel, having not started a league match since 10 August 2018.[52] He made only five appearances in all competitions, and was not included in the squad for a league match after 22 September.[53] The manager's decision to leave the player out of the first team and make him train withthe under-23s was criticised by the latter's father, who accused the former of unfairly "picking on his son".[54]
On 31 January 2019, Silva joinedAS Monaco FC – coached by his compatriotLeonardo Jardim – on loan until June, withYouri Tielemans moving in the opposite direction.[55][56] He made hisLigue 1 debut on 2 February, playing 18 minutes in the 2–1 home victory overToulouse FC after replacing fellow PortugueseGelson Martins.[57]
Despite a change of Leicester manager prior to2019–20, Silva was still told that he was free to leave the club.[58] On 23 August 2019, he rejoined Monaco on another loan.[59] He contributed two assists in 22 appearances, beforethe season was abruptly concluded due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[60][61]
During a pre-match press conference ahead of the2020–21 campaign, Leicester coachBrendan Rodgers said that Silva's future "will be outside of here".[62] In October 2020, a financial agreement was reached to terminate the former's contract while he finalised a move toUC Sampdoria.[63] Shortly after, the Italian club announced his signing on a two-year deal.[64]
On 3 January 2022, Silva's contract was terminated by mutual consent.[65]
Silva joinedAl Wahda FC of theUAE Pro League on 4 January 2022, on a two-year deal.[66][67] He returned to Portugal in January 2024, with the 34-year-old agreeing to a short-term contract at top-tierRio Ave FC.[68]
Though born in France, Silva elected to play forPortugal, and represented the country at every youth level. Withthe under-16s he appeared at theTournoi du Val-de-Marne, featuring in all three group stage matches – however, after he was found to have done unauthorised training with Chelsea, he was suspended by thePortuguese Football Federation.[5] He played with theunder-17 team as they attempted to qualify for the2007 UEFA European Championship, being a regular as the side eventually fell short inthe elite round.
On 30 January 2007, the Portuguese Federation announced that Silva would be participating in the2007 Meridian Cup (for under-18 players) as the country's only representative,[69] and he declared that he was "very proud to represent Portugal in a European selection". However, prior to the start of the competition, he suffered an injury and was replaced by compatriotRomeu Ribeiro.[70]
Silva was limited to only seven appearances with thePortuguese under-19s, due to his increased involvement with Sporting's first team. He scored his first goal in the age group on 6 November 2007, inthe first round of qualification for the2008 European Championship against theRepublic of Ireland;[71] despite a 2–1 victory, Portugal failed to progress past theelite stages.
On 5 February 2009, Silva earned his first call up to theunder-21 team under coachRui Caçador, for afriendly match withSwitzerland that was played five days later.[72] He started and played 78 minutes, before being substituted in a 3–1 win.[73] He was a regular participant in thequalification campaign for the2011 European Championships, appearing in five out of nine matches and scoring in a 1–1 draw toMacedonia.[74]
Silva was called up by new Portugal coachFernando Santos for afriendly inFrance on 11 October 2014,[75] but did not play in the 1–2 defeat. He made his senior international debut in another friendly, replacingAndré Gomes midway through the second half of a 1–0 win overArgentina atOld Trafford on 18 November.[76]
Silva was selected for theEuro 2016 squad.[77] His first game in the tournament took place on 25 June, when he played the full 120 minutes in the round of 16 clash againstCroatia, a 1–0 win afterextra time.[78]
Having also been picked for the2017 FIFA Confederations Cup,[79] Silva contributed four appearances as Portugal finished third. He scored his first goal for his country on 2 July, a 104th-minutepenalty to help defeatMexico 2–1 in the third place play-off.[80]
Silva was selected for the2018 World Cup.[81]
Mainly acentral midfielder, Silva was known for hisdribbling and passing skills.[82]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[nb 1] | Continental | Other[nb 2] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sporting CP | 2007–08 | Primeira Liga | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2008–09 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 24 | 1 | |||
| 2012–13 | 19 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 26 | 3 | |||
| 2013–14 | 28 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 33 | 9 | |||
| 2014–15 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2 | — | 42 | 10 | |||
| 2015–16 | 29 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 9 | ||
| 2016–17 | 27 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 6 | ||
| 2017–18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| Total | 168 | 32 | 34 | 3 | 37 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 241 | 39 | ||
| Maccabi Haifa (loan) | 2010–11 | Israeli Premier League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Académica (loan) | 2010–11 | Primeira Liga | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 1 | ||
| 2011–12 | 28 | 4 | 9 | 3 | — | — | 37 | 7 | ||||
| Total | 34 | 5 | 11 | 3 | — | — | 45 | 8 | ||||
| Leicester City | 2017–18 | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 14 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 0 | ||||
| Monaco (loan) | 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 15 | 0 | |
| 2019–20 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 0 | ||||
| Sampdoria | 2020–21 | Serie A | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||
| 2021–22 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 41 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 44 | 1 | ||||
| Al Wahda | 2021–22 | UAE Pro League | 13 | 3 | — | — | — | 13 | 3 | |||
| 2022–23 | 25 | 4 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 38 | 7 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 7 | ||||
| Rio Ave | 2023–24 | Primeira Liga | 10 | 0 | — | — | — | 10 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 348 | 43 | 61 | 6 | 39 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 450 | 53 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 2014 | 1 | 0 |
| 2015 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2016 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2018 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 26 | 1 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 July 2017 | Otkrytiye Arena,Moscow, Russia |  Mexico | 2–1 | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup |
Sporting CP
Maccabi Haifa
Académica
Portugal
Individual
Orders
Commander of theOrder of Merit[89]
Portugal squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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