Nuno Mendes is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Sporting CP and the Portugal national team.
He was born on 19 June 2002 in Sintra, Portugal. The footballer stands at the height of 1.7 m with a decent weight of 62 kg. He possesses a perfect combination of speed, technique, and desire at both ends of the pitch. He has been playing football since the tender age of 10 and is one of the competitors in the world of professional footballers.
Nuno Mendes Is Set To Transfer From Sporting Lisbon
Manchester City has been interested in having the defender Nuno Mendes on their team, but it has been shelved until after the Euros.
The footballer is reminded to focus on his country in this international tournament as of now and put his personal future to one side.
According to The Mirror, City’s boss, Pep Guardiola, sees Mendes as the answer to the club’s long-standing issues at left-back. The City opened the talks with the young defender’s adviser in May but has yet to trigger his 60.1 million pounds release clause.
And now it seems that the City will be joined in the race with Real Madrid for his signature if he impresses during the Euros.
Meanwhile, City’s Portuguese trio Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, and Joao Cancelo have been helping with a charm offensive to convince Mendes that he would enjoy life in the Premier League.
Moreover, his talents have not gone unnoticed among other Europe’s elite, with Manchester United and Barcelona, among the few.
However, during a recent wide-ranging interview Portuguese outlet Record, Mendes was keen to distance himself from the speculation of an impending move away from Sporting.
He said he is not yet an “elite player” and wants to focus solely on the national team in the Euros. But, who knows, he may have a change in his mind and keep the possible club to transfer to in check.
Nuno Mendes Salary And Stats
For a 19-year-old to venture solely from his professional football career, Nuno Mendes has significantly earned lots of money. In Sporting CP, he earns 5,900 pounds per week, which amounts to 306,800 per year. Meanwhile, his contract with Sporting will be soon expiring on 30 June 2025. According to transfermarkt.com, the youngster’s value stands at 40 million pounds as of June 2021, ranking him along with the top 10s of the world’s highest-valued U19 players.
Nuno Mendes with Primeira Liga trophy for Sporting CP Club (©: Instagram/Nuno Mendes)
He has had 38 appearances with Sporting CP in the Liga NOS, scoring a goal, and 5 appearances with the Portugal national team. With Mendes on the team, Sporting CP became a runner-up in the 2019/20 Super Cup season and won Taca da Liga and Primeira Liga in the season 2020/21.
With some calculation for his performances up till now, the fifacm.com has rated him 77 in overall stats, and further evaluating his games while in his appearances he has a potential to reach 87 in his overall stats as per futwiz.com.
Mendes joined the youth academy of Sporting CP at the tender age of 10 and worked all to the way to climb up the ranks to the first team starting XI. His former youth coach Diogo Goncalves also praised him for his performances as a left-back in the team.
He first gained some keen attention from the professionals when he made his professional debut in a Premeira Liga home win against F.C. Pacos de Ferreira in June 2020. Since then, Mendes has become the first choice for the Sporting CP and has often been in the starting XI.
Mendes’s progression didn’t go unchecked by the Portugal national team as well. After only 4 caps for the U21s, he found himself in the senior squad for the team in March’s round of international fixtures. He will also be playing for the team in Euro 2020.