Joao Moutinho

{Profile Posted 17/05/2012}





Date of Birth: - 8th September 1986.



Nationality: - Portugese



Height: - 5ft 7inches.



Position: - Midfielder.



Club History: - Sporting Lisbon

- FC Porto.



Linked With: - Chelsea



Estimated Market Value: - Around 30 million Euro's.











Club career.



Sporting Lisbon:

2001 - At the age of 13, Moutinho signed with Sporting Lisbon in order to carry on his education with them, as well as develop through the youth setup.



July 2004 - During pre-season (at only 17 years old) he was called up into the first squad to travel with them. During this time, Moutinho played a few games for Lisbon and began to display some talent for a such a young player. However, after this he returned to the youth team where Moutinho helped the team win the national youth title that season, although he was also regularly training with the main squad.



At the start of the 2005/2006 season, Moutinho was called up for a game in the Portuguese Cup, and he eventually played the final 20 minutes against F.C. Pampilhosa.



23rd January 2006 - Moutinho finally made his league debut and actually started the game in which he played in the entire 3-0 win at Gil Vicente FC.



Towards the end of the 2006 season, Moutinho was able to become a regular first-team starter after having very consisent performances for Lisbon and displaying his ability and versatility across the midfield.



Moutinho's performances were also very impressive in the closing stages of the UEFA Cup with Man of the Match displays against Feyenoord as well as Newcastle United that helped the Lisbon reach the final of the competition, which therefore made him an automatic starter for Lisbon despite his young age in the final.



Moutinho finished the season with 15 league matches, as Sporting finished in second. During the summer, he penned a one-year extension with the club.



In Moutinho's first full season, he made further progress in the first-team and displayed extremely impressive consistency as he was the only player to play every minute of every match in the domestic league. It was clear that Moutinho was one of the brightest players in Sporting's runner-up final place.



In the 2006/2007 season, Moutinho was made vice-captain at just 19 years of age. The following season, he would be named captain and was the second youngest in the history of the club's existance to be made captain.



In the 2008/2009 season after much speculation over his future, Moutinho was again ever present, only missing three league matches (almost 50 appearances overall) as Sporting finished once again runner-up. Moutinho also had several impressive performances in the CL that season, and scored their final goal of the competition in their last 16 exit to Bayern Munich.











Porto:

3rd July 2010 - Moutinho signed a five-year contract with F.C. Porto for around 11 million Euro's.



After this move, Moutinho fell under heavy criticism for forcing a transfer to a rival club after spending 10 years in Sporting's youth ranks, also being one of the team's star players and captain. After this move, Moutinho was hated across Lisbon and was subject to much criticism from the media, from the club of Lisbon and from Portugal in general.



Moutinho was an ever-present figure for Porto in his first season as he appeared in 50 official games as they won the league and even though he did not score in league competition, he netted twice in the campaign's Portuguese Cup, most notably in a 3-1 away win against S.L. Benfica, with his team overcoming the 0-2 home loss in the first leg to reach the final. Porto also went on to win the treble that season, with Moutinho playing in almost every game of every competition.



For the remainded of the season, Moutinho carried on playing at a consistent level and is becoming a firm fan favourite alongside the likes of Hulk, as they certainly have a very prominent understanding between one another.













International Career:

2006 - Moutinho made his debut with the national squad in a 2-0 home friendly win against Egypt but was not taken to the World Cup. However, ever since the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he became a regular call-up.



31st May 2008 - Moutinho registered his first goal for Portugal in their 2-0 friendly victory over Georgia (Home).



Moutinho was then picked for the squad-of-23 for Euro 2008 and in the opening game, assisted on a goal by Raul Meireles in a 2-0 victory against Turkey.



Moutinho was then not selected in the 23-man-squad for Portugal for the 2010 World Cup, but has featured regularly after this World Cup also.













Club Statistics:



Lisbon: - 259 appearances, 32 goals and 26 assists.





FC Porto (as of 17/05/2012): - 96 appearances, 5 goals and 16 assists.















General Comments:

I'd like to start by saying that these comments won't be the longest as in all honesty, getting footage of the Portugese league is really difficult, so most of my views come from his exploits in the Champions League/ Europa League.



Moutinho has always been a player I admired, but when he forced his move through from Lisbon I was a tad disappointed in him, as Lisbon had raised him to play a certain style of football etc, breaded him into the game etc, and then he left at the first opportunity, even though he was club captain and a fan favourite. That to me shows a lack of loyalty and is very disrespectful to do to any club.



Anyway, onto his abilities. Moutinho has quick feet and has his patented 'nutmeg' which he's fantastic at executing, as well as his vision for passing. I'd say one of his best attributes are his through balls, as he is just brilliant as measuring the weight of the ball to play it perfectly. However, there is an issue with his finishing, as he is very inconsistent with regards to his shooting. In one game he will score an absolute screamer, and then for the rest of the game sky the ball over and get no where near goal which is a tad frustrating to watch.



I'd say that despite reports, Moutinho is unlikely to leave Porto this summer due to his very high price tag, however there has also been reports that he will not be renewing his contract so anything could happen with regards to this. I'd also like to finish this off by saying that I believe he would suit the PL as he displays a lot of physical strength, pace and ability - and I for one would like to see him in our English league, but I feel that Chelsea would not be the correct club for him at all.





Thanks all,



Ed022-}