 Gonçalves in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Pedro António Pereira Gonçalves[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1998-06-28)28 June 1998 (age 27)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Vidago, Portugal | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Attacking midfielder,winger | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Sporting CP | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 8 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2006–2008 | Vidago | ||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2010 | Chaves | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | Braga | ||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | Valencia | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Famalicão | 33 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020– | Sporting CP | 149 | (70) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Portugal U18 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Portugal U20 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Portugal U21 | 8 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Portugal | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:47, 8 November 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 September 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
Pedro António Pereira Gonçalves (Portuguese pronunciation:[ˈpeðɾuɣõˈsalvɨʃ];[A] born 28 June 1998), also known asPote,[2] is a Portuguese professionalfootballer who plays as anattacking midfielder orwinger forPrimeira Liga clubSporting CP and thePortugal national team.
Gonçalves started his career withWolverhampton Wanderers, before signing for newly promotedPrimeira Liga sideFamalicão in 2019. After being named Primeira Liga's Best Young Player of the Year in 2020, he signed for fellow Primeira Liga sideSporting CP. There, he won theBola de Prata for being the top scorer in the Primeira Liga, and was the league's top assist provider in consecutive seasons in2023 and2024.
He is a formerPortugal youth international, representing his country atunder-18,under-20 andunder-21 levels. He made his senior international debut in 2021, being chosen in Portugal's squad for theUEFA Euro 2020.
Born in the village ofVidago, aspa town inChaves,Vila Real District,[2] Gonçalves' father died a month after his birth.[3] He started his career at Vidago at the age of 8, where his mother worked as the kit provider. He was integrated into the club's youth team by vice president José Sousa, after being a regular presence around the premises. Due to being chubby and short during his childhood, he earned the nickname "Potinho" and later "Pote".[4]
Following his performances in Vidago, Gonçalves caught the attention of his hometown clubG.D. Chaves, joining the club's youth system at the age of 11. Two years later, he was taken toS.C. Braga by Jorge Pires, whose father was a friend of Pedro's father, usually travelling one hour for each training session.[5]
After passing his trial aged 13, Gonçalves moved to the city ofBraga, living in the house of a lady with two other teammates.[6] He stayed in the youth system for five years, but left the club following the departure of his manager Agostinho Oliveira, whose contract was not renewed.[5] Upon learning of the situation,Valencia's coachNuno Espírito Santo offered him a professional contract, integrating him into the club's youth teams, with Pedro easily adapting to his new life in Spain and becoming club captain.[5]
In July 2017, Gonçalves signed a two-year contract with English clubWolverhampton Wanderers.[5][7] He made his only competitive appearance for the first team on 28 August 2018, in a 2–0 away win againstSheffield Wednesday inthe second round of theEFL Cup, coming on as a 62nd-minutesubstitute forElliot Watt.[8]
Gonçalves returned to Portugal on 2 July 2019,[9] joining newly promotedFamalicão on a five-year deal,[9] citing homesickness during his time in England, as one of the reasons for his transfer.[10][11] He made hisPrimeira Liga debut on 10 August, playing the entire 2–0 victory atSanta Clara.[12] His first goal was scored one month later, helping the hosts beatPaços de Ferreira in a 4–2 victory.[13] During his spell at theEstádio Municipal 22 de Junho, Gonçalves established himself as a regular at midfield and made a significant contribution to the team's strong start to the season, becoming club captain in January 2020, scoring seven times and providing eight assists in all competitions from 40 appearances, helping the club to a record sixth-place finish in the league.[14] Following his good performance for Famalicão, during the season, he was named thePrimeira Liga's Best Young Player of the Year.[15]
On 18 August 2020, Gonçalves signed a five-year contract withSporting CP of the same league,[16] for a fee of €6.5 million for half of his economic rights.[17] On 1 October, he made his debut for the club in a 4–1 home loss againstLASK in the play-off round of theUEFA Europa League, as a 67th-minute substitute forLuciano Vietto.[18] With two goals in a 4–0 win overTondela on 1 November, he reached five goals in his first six league games, second-best in the league.[19] On 5 December, he scored and wassent off in a 2–2 draw at his previous club; this was his tenth goal over six consecutive matches.[20]
On 15 May 2021, Gonçalves scored two goals in a 4–3 away loss againstBenfica in theLisbon derby,[21] marking the first and only defeat for Sporting in the league.[22] Four days later, he scored ahat-trick in a 5–1 home thrashing ofMarítimo, taking his tally up to 23 goals, finishing as the top scorer in the league, being awarded theBola de Prata, while also surpassing Benfica'sHaris Seferovic by one goal to win the individual accolade and becoming the first national player sinceDomingos Paciência in 1996 to do so.[23][24] On 8 July, Gonçalves was awarded the Primeira Liga's Young Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.[25][26]
On 31 July, Gonçalves scored a goal in the 2–1 defeat ofBraga in theSupertaça Cândido de Oliveira, and was named man of the match.[27] From 6 August until 14 August, he scored three goals in two consecutive league matches in a 3–0 home victory over against newly promoted sideVizela, and in a 2–1 away victory against Braga, leading him to be named thePrimeira Liga's Midfielder of the Month in August.[28] At the end of the month, he injured his left foot, causing him to be sidelined for almost two months.[29] On 29 October, he agreed to a contract extension, tying him to the club until 2026 and increasing hisbuyout clause from €60 million to €80 million.[30]
On 3 November, he scored his first twoUEFA Champions League goals in a 4–0 home group stage victory againstBeşiktaş, and was named man of the match.[31] He repeated the feat three weeks later in a 3–1 win againstBorussia Dortmund, ensuring the team's qualification to theround of sixteen for the first time since the2008–09 season.[32] In doing so, he became the second Portuguese player afterCristiano Ronaldo to score two or more in consecutive Champions League matches.[33]
His second season would be marked by continuous injuries resulted in Gonçalves performances declining, finishing the season appearing in 31 games, scoring 14 goals and providing 7 assists, which resulted in him being the highest contributor of his team that season.[34]
Gonçalves started the season by scoring in a 3–3 away draw to Braga on 7 August, followed by a brace againstRio Ave a week later. He quickly regained his form from last season, scoring three goals and providing three assists in September, despite his team poor run of form, sometimes filling as anumber 8, when his teammates were sidelined with an injury.[35]
On 16 March 2023, he scored an equalizer from almost half-way pitch in a 1–1 away draw againstArsenal, with his team progressing to theUEFA Europa Leaguequarter-finals, beating bypenalty shootout after a 3–3 aggregate score inLondon.[36] Gonçalves' goal was later considered the Best Goal of the 2022–23 edition of the competition.[37] He ended the season as the club's top scorer with 20 goals, and the Primeira Liga's top assist provider with 11 assists in total.[citation needed]
Ahead of the2023–24 season, Sporting handed Gonçalves the number 8 shirt, who had previously belonged toMatheus Nunes andBruno Fernandes.[38] Sporting also acquired 40 of the 50% of Gonçalves' economic still held by Famalicão, for a fee of €7.7 million.[39] On 19 December, he closed the 2–0 league victory at home torivalsPorto, netting his first goal against the opposition and as a result allowing his side to overtake rivals Benfica at the top of the Primeira Liga table.[40] Over the following months, Gonçalves formed an attacking trio withFrancisco Trincão and strikerViktor Gyökeres, that led Sporting mathematically securing their 20th Primeira Liga title, following Benfica's defeat toFamalicão on 5 May, with Gonçalves registering 12 assists, finishing as the league's top assist provider for the second consecutive season.[41]
The following season, he spent most of the season injured, only playing eight league matches, however, on 17 May, he scored Sporting's first goal in a 2–0 victory overVitória de Guimarães as Sporting won the league for the second consecutive season, their first time in 71 years; this was Gonçalves' third Primeira League title.[42][43][44] On 25 May, Gonçalves helped Sporting win theTaça de Portugal final against Benfica, by the score of 3–1, winning their firstdomestic double since the2001–02 season.[45]
Gonçalves began his international career withunder-18 level in 2016. In March 2018, he was called up to theunder-20 level to play two friendlies, againstGermany andEngland.[46]
He earned his firstcap forPortugal atunder-21 level on 4 September 2020, in a 4–0 win inCyprus for the2021 UEFA European Championshipqualifiers.[47][48] On 13 October, in another away fixture for the same competition, he scored twice againstGibraltar in a 3–0 away victory.[49]
On 15 March 2021, Gonçalves was selected byRui Jorge for his2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship squad.[50]
Having already participated in the first stage of the under-21 finals,[51] in May 2021 Gonçalves was selected byFernando Santos for hisUEFA Euro 2020 squad due to the delay caused by theCOVID-19 pandemic.[52] He made his full debut the following 4 June, playing the second half of the 0–0friendly draw withSpain inMadrid.[53] Gonçalves ended up not playing for Portugal in the Euro 2020 in an eventual round-of-16 exit.[54][55]
In October 2022, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-mansquad for the2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar,[56] but did not make the final cut.[57]
During his time withFamalicão, Gonçalves played predominantly as acentral midfielder at a deeper position. Under managerRuben Amorim atSporting CP, Gonçalves was deployed as anattacking midfielder or aright winger in the team's 3–4–2–1 or 3–4–3 formations, during which, he is allowed the freedom to fluidly move, coming infield to get close to the central striker or pulling off to the edge of the box.[11] Gonçalves also has good ball control and balance, which allows him to roam around the attacking areas of the pitch. While playing as afalse 9, Gonçalves contributes to the possession of his team dropping deep to pick up possession and when receiving the ball in these half-spaces, his spatial awareness allows him to reliably transfer the ball to a dangerous area of the pitch.[58]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2017–18 | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Famalicão | 2019–20 | Primeira Liga | 33 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 40 | 7 | ||
| Sporting CP | 2020–21 | Primeira Liga | 32 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | — | 37 | 23 | |
| 2021–22 | Primeira Liga | 27 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5[d] | 4 | 1[e] | 1 | 41 | 15 | |
| 2022–23 | Primeira Liga | 33 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 11[f] | 3 | — | 51 | 20 | ||
| 2023–24 | Primeira Liga | 32 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 9[c] | 3 | — | 49 | 18 | ||
| 2024–25 | Primeira Liga | 14 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 1 | 20 | 6 | |
| 2025–26 | Primeira Liga | 11 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 17 | 9 | |
| Total | 149 | 70 | 14 | 7 | 16 | 2 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 215 | 91 | ||
| Career total | 182 | 75 | 20 | 9 | 18 | 2 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 256 | 98 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 2021 | 2 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 4 | 0 | |
Sporting CP
Portugal
Individual
