.jpg) Pereira playing forPortugal at the2018 FIFA World Cup | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ricardo Domingos Barbosa Pereira[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1993-10-06)6 October 1993 (age 32)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2][1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Full-back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Leicester City | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2001–2004 | Futebol Benfica | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2010 | Sporting CP | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2011 | Naval | ||||||||||||||||
| 2011–2012 | Vitória Guimarães | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Vitória Guimarães | 30 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | Vitória Guimarães B | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Porto B | 18 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2018 | Porto | 46 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015 | →Nice II (loan) | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | →Nice (loan) | 50 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Leicester City | 160 | (12) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Portugal U19 | 3 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | Portugal U20 | 14 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Portugal U21 | 18 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Portugal U23 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2015–2019 | Portugal | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13:00, 5 November 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Ricardo Domingos Barbosa Pereira (born 6 October 1993) is a Portuguese professionalfootballer who plays as afull-back for andcaptainsEFL Championship clubLeicester City.
After starting out atVitória de Guimarães – winning the2013 Taça de Portugal and being the competition's top scorer in the process – he signed withPorto, being part of the squad that won the2017–18 Primeira Liga but also spending two years on loan to French clubNice. In May 2018, he joined Leicester City for €25 million, going on to win three trophies including the2020–21 FA Cup and the2021 FA Community Shield.
A senior international since 2015, Pereira representedPortugal at the2018 FIFA World Cup.
Born inLisbon ofCape Verdean descent,[3] Pereira began playing youth football with localC.F. Benfica, signing in 2010 withAssociação Naval 1º de Maio after a six-year spell atSporting CP's academy. He moved toVitória S.C. after only one year, completing his development with theGuimarães-based club.[4]
Pereira made his first-team – andPrimeira Liga – debut on 1 April 2012, playing 12 minutes in a 3–1 home win overF.C. Paços de Ferreira.[5] He scored six goals in as many games in the2012–13 edition of theTaça de Portugal,[6][7] including the 2–1 winner inthe final againstS.L. Benfica as theMinho Province side won the tournament for the first time in their history.[8]
On 16 April 2013, beforethe season was over, Pereira agreed to joinFC Porto on 1 July, moving alongside teammateTiago Rodrigues.[9] He alternated constantly between the first and thesecond teams during his early tenure, also being reconverted to afull-back by managerPaulo Fonseca.[10] His maiden appearance in theUEFA Champions League took place on 26 August 2014, when hereplaced the injuredCasemiro late into the 2–0 home victory overLille OSC in theplay-off round.[11]
In summer 2015, after only 33 first-team appearances over two seasons, Pereira was loaned for two years to French clubOGC Nice.[12] He made his debut inLigue 1 on 12 September, playing the entire 0–1 home loss toEn Avant Guingamp.[13]
Pereira was voted as the French League's best full-back by theInternational Centre for Sports Studies in April 2016.[14]
On 17 May 2018, a €25 million deal was agreed for Pereira to move toLeicester City.[15] He made hisPremier League debut on 10 August, playing the entire 2–1 away defeat againstManchester United.[16] He scored his first goal while celebrating his 25th birthday, netting after a counter-attack in a 1–2 home loss toEverton.[17] At the end ofthe campaign, he was voted both his team's Player of the Season and Players’ Player of the Season.[18]
Pereira scored in consecutive wins overTottenham Hotspur andNewcastle United in September 2019, both at theKing Power Stadium,[19] and the following 4 March he netted the only goal againstBirmingham City in thefifth round of theFA Cup to put the Foxes into the last eight for the second time in eight years.[20] Days later, he was ruled out for the rest ofthe season with ananterior cruciate ligament injury.[21]
On 18 February 2022, Pereira signed a contract extension until 2026.[22] On 14 April, his 88th-minute strike closed a 2–1 victory atPSV Eindhoven (also the aggregate score) and confirmed qualification forthe semi-finals of theUEFA Europa Conference League.[23]
Pereira struggled heavily with injury problems during his spell at the club, also being relegated to theEFL Championship in2023.[24][25] Thefollowing campaign, he was often deployed as an inverted full-back under new coachEnzo Maresca;[26] he would step in as aholding midfielder while his team possessed the ball, and managed to stay fit as they won the league and promoted.[27]
Pereira started two games in the2024–25 season.[28] On 11 November 2024, managerSteve Cooper confirmed that he would be ruled out "for about four months" due to a hamstring injury.[29]
Pereira won 35caps forPortugal at youth level, scoring 12 goals.[30] He was part of theunder-21 squad that finished second at the2015 UEFA European Championship,[31] contributing four starting appearances and netting in the 5–0 semi-final victory overGermany.[32]
On 6 November 2015, Pereira was called up to thefull side for the second time, ahead offriendlies againstRussia andLuxembourg.[33] He made his debut in the former match, featuring eight minutes in the 1–0 defeat inKrasnodar.[34]
Pereira was selected by managerFernando Santos for his2018 FIFA World Cup squad.[35] He made his debut inthe competition on 30 June, playing the entire 2–1 loss toUruguay in the round of 16.[36]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vitória Guimarães | 2011–12 | Primeira Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2012–13 | Primeira Liga | 27 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 36 | 8 | |||
| Total | 30 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 2 | — | — | 39 | 8 | ||||
| Vitória Guimarães B | 2012–13 | Segunda Liga | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Porto B | 2013–14 | Segunda Liga | 12 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 1 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Segunda Liga | 6 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 18 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 18 | 2 | ||||||
| Porto | 2013–14 | Primeira Liga | 14 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| 2014–15 | Primeira Liga | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Primeira Liga | 27 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7[d] | 0 | — | 43 | 2 | ||
| Total | 46 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 0 | — | 77 | 4 | |||
| Nice II (loan) | 2015–16 | CFA | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Nice (loan) | 2015–16 | Ligue 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 27 | 0 | ||
| 2016–17 | Ligue 1 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5[e] | 0 | — | 30 | 2 | ||
| Total | 50 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 57 | 2 | |||
| Leicester City | 2018–19 | Premier League | 35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Premier League | 28 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 4 | |||
| 2020–21 | Premier League | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[e] | 0 | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | Premier League | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[f] | 1 | 1[g] | 0 | 24 | 2 | |
| 2022–23 | Premier League | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | Championship | 39 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 45 | 4 | |||
| 2024–25 | Premier League | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| 2025–26 | Championship | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | |||
| Total | 160 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 190 | 15 | ||
| Career total | 306 | 20 | 23 | 8 | 27 | 2 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 383 | 31 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 0 | |
Vitória Guimarães
Porto
Leicester City
Portugal U21
Individual
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