He came throughBenfica's youth academy, signing with ItalianSerie A sideParma in 2010. He was consecutively loaned to various clubs, before transferring toMarítimo in 2013. In July 2015, he joinedPorto for a reported fee of €4.5 million, winning twoPrimeira Liga titles and oneTaça de Portugal while being part of the squad that won adomestic double in 2020, making 202 official appearances for them. In October 2020, he moved toParis Saint-Germain on an initial one-year loan deal, which was made permanent at the end of the season.
Born inBissau, Guinea-Bissau as the oldest child of Quinta Djata, a nurse, Pereira and his family moved to Portugal when he was five. He played his youth football with three clubs in theLisbon area, finishing his development withBenfica.[2]
Benfica subsequently decided against signing Pereira to a professional contract, and Italian sideParma acquired him on afree transfer.[3] He spent the second half of the 2010–11 season on loan toAris in Greece and, upon his return to theStadio Ennio Tardini, made his first appearance inSerie A on 21 December 2011, coming on as a latesubstitute in a 3–3 home draw againstCatania.[4]
Pereira was loaned again for2012–13, spending the campaign withRoda in theEredivisie[5] and being first choice to help his team narrowly avoid relegation.
On 1 August 2013, Pereira returned to Portugal, signing withMarítimo.[6] He made hisPrimeira Liga debut 17 days later in a 2–1 home victory over his former club Benfica,[7] and scored his first goal on 19 December in the 2–2 home draw withBraga.[8] He made 32 competitive appearances duringthe season, helping his team to a sixth-place finish to narrowly miss out onqualification for theUEFA Europa League.[9]
On 2 July 2015, Pereira agreed to a four-year contract withPorto for a transfer fee of €4.5 million, the highest sale in Marítimo's history, with abuyout clause of €40 million.[12][13] He scored a career-best six goals – from 33 appearances – in hisfirst year, in a runner-up finish.[14] In October 2016, he was named Porto's footballer of the year after winning the "Dragão de Ouro" award.[15]
Pereira was elected the Primeira Liga's midfielder of the month in September 2017, a feat he replicated in December.[16] He suffered a calf injury during a League Cup game atSporting CP on 24 January 2018, going on to be sidelined for several months.[17]
On 5 October 2020, Pereira joinedParis Saint-Germain on a one-year loan for a reported fee of €4 million with a conditional obligation to buy at the end of the season for €16 million.[22][23] He made his debut 15 days later, in a 2–1 home loss againstManchester United in thegroup stage of theUEFA Champions League.[24] HisLigue 1 bow was also that month, in the 4–0 rout ofDijon also at theParc des Princes, where he featured as acentral defender.[25] His first goal came in the reverse fixture against the latter adversary on 27 February 2021, when he headed in a cross from a corner (same score).[26]
PSG eventuallyfinished second toLille in the league.[27] This triggered the obligation to make the move permanent, and Pereira therefore became linked to the club until 2025.[28] On 6 February 2022, he scored a brace for the first time in his career to help his team to a 5–1 away win over Lille,[29] and won his first league titlethat campaign contributing five goals.[30][31]
On 22 August 2023, Pereira was elected vice-captain by his teammates.[32]
Having fallen out of favour in PSG and having not featured in any ofLuis Enrique's matchday squads for the new season, on 2 September 2024 Pereira was signed bySaudi Pro League clubAl-Ittihad for a reported fee of €5 million.[33] He claimed thedouble in hisfirst season,[34] scoring two of his four goals in thesemi-finals of theKing's Cup to help the hosts come from behind 2–1 in injury time and defeatAl Shabab 3–2.[35]
Pereira made his senior international debut on 31 March 2015, replacing fellow debutantBernardo Silva after 62 minutes of an eventual 0–2friendly defeat toCape Verde inEstoril.[39] He was also selected for theUEFA Euro 2016 squad by managerFernando Santos,[40] scoring his first goal in the last warm-up game, a 7–0 victory againstEstonia inLisbon on 8 June.[41] He made five appearances for the champions in the finals in France.[42]
^Quintas, Joana (31 December 2017)."Danilo Pereira, o dragão do ano" [Danilo Pereira, dragon of the year] (in Portuguese). Bola Na Rede. Retrieved15 March 2018.
Estonia
Serbia
Knight of theOrder of Prince Henry[67][68]
Commander of theOrder of Merit[69][70]
