sport.wikisort.org - Athlete

Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva (born 24 November 1996), known as Wesley or Wesley Moraes, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre forward for Segunda División club Levante, on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa.

Wesley

Wesley with Club Brugge in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva[1]
Date of birth	(1996-11-24) 24 November 1996 (age 25)[2]
Place of birth	Juiz de Fora, Brazil
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)[3]
Position(s)	Forward
Club information
Current team	Levante (on loan from Aston Villa)
Number	7
Youth career
2010	Uberabinha
2011	Sport Juiz de Fora
2012	Uberabinha
2013	Sport Juiz de Fora
2013	Atlético Mineiro
2013	Tupi
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014	Itabuna	1	(0)
2015–2016	Trenčín	18	(6)
2016–2019	Club Brugge	107	(32)
2019–	Aston Villa	26	(6)
2021–2022	→ Club Brugge (loan)	4	(0)
2022	→ Internacional (loan)	8	(0)
2022–	→ Levante (loan)	13	(0)
National team
2019	Brazil	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 09:35, 8 November 2022 (UTC)

He began his career at Brazilian side Itabuna before moving to Trenčín in the Slovak Super Liga and subsequently Club Brugge where he won two league titles and was named Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year in 2018. He made his international debut for Brazil in November 2019.

Club career

Youth career and Itabuna

As a youngster Moraes played futsal around his hometown of Juiz de Fora.[4] Moving to football, he represented both Associação Esportiva Uberabinha and Sport Club Juiz de Fora for different periods. In 2013, he also spent three months at Atlético Mineiro, but was released; in that year, he also played for Tupi.[5]

Having joined local side Itabuna at eighteen, Wesley played semi-professionally in the state level Campeonato Baiano in 2014,[6] but stayed at the club for just three months.[5] He later went on trial with European clubs including a lengthy six-month trial at Atlético Madrid's academy side where he played in tournaments in Bilbao and Croatia, and later a three-month trial at AS Nancy; neither club offered him a professional contract.[7][8] Wesley also trialled with then Ligue 2 side Evian.[7]

Trenčín

Wesley joined AS Trenčín of the Slovak Super Liga in July 2015, who had become aware of him after his trials in Europe.[8] On 14 July 2015, he played for Trenčín against FCSB in the second round of qualification of the 2015–2016 Champions League. He scored twice for Trenčín in the return match against FCSB, helping his side to a 3–2 win but the club did not proceed to the next round.[9]

Club Brugge

Wesley moved to Club Brugge on 29 January 2016. He scored his first goal in his debut match against KVC Westerlo. Brugges worked to tone down his aggression during games which led to a number of yellow cards and a sending off in his first season, he wore tape on his hands in a match against Royal Antwerp as a reminder to not react.[10]

Aston Villa

On 13 June 2019, Wesley signed for Aston Villa in the Premier League, for a fee of £22,000,000.[11] Following a week-long training camp with the rest of the squad, Wesley made his debut for Villa in a friendly match against Minnesota United on 17 July 2019.[12] Wesley scored his first Villa goal in his third appearance, opening the scoring in the 2–0 win over Everton on 23 August, with a first time strike beating Jordan Pickford.

On 1 January 2020, Wesley suffered a severe cruciate knee ligament injury after a tackle from Burnley's Ben Mee. Wesley had scored earlier in the game, a 2–1 win. His injury was initially predicted to take around nine months to recover from.[13] However, the injury was more severe than first thought, and Wesley's time on the sidelines was much longer. He made his return to football on 26 March 2021, over a year later, playing for 45 minutes in a training ground friendly against West Bromwich Albion.[14]

Wesley made his return to competitive football on 25 April 2021, 480 days since his last game, as a late substitute in a 2–2 Premier League draw against West Bromwich Albion.[15]

On 28 August 2021, Wesley rejoined Club Brugge on a season-long loan.[16] He made his second debut for Brugge on 18 September 2021, in a 1–0 victory over Charleroi.[17]

On 7 January 2022, Wesley was recalled from his Club Brugge loan, and joined Brazilian club Internacional on a 12-month loan.[18] On 29 January 2022, Wesley made his debut for Internacional - scoring a penalty in a 2–0 victory over Frederiquense in the Campeonato Gaúcho.[19]

On 22 July 2022, Wesley was recalled from his Brazilian loan and moved on loan to Segunda División club Levante.[20] He made his debut on 12 August 2022, in a 0–0 draw with Huesca.[21]

International career

Wesley made his international debut for Brazil on 15 November 2019, coming off the bench in a 1–0 loss to Argentina.[22]

Style of play

Wesley was born with one leg almost three centimetres shorter than the other, which has led to comparisons in his movement to legendary compatriot Garrincha.[4] He was also compared with former Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke by Joseph Chapman from the Birmingham Mail, for his strong aerial threat while being confident with the ball at his feet.[23]

Personal life

Wesley grew up in the city of Juiz de Fora, distant some 200 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro.[10] His father was a footballer who played as a midfielder but only made a small amount of money from playing; Wesley credited his father as having taught him the game of football. His father became partially disabled later in his life and died following a brain tumour when Wesley was nine years of age.[10]

Wesley has two children from different relationships, Yan and Maria Eduarda, both of whom he fathered as a teenager.[4][10] He had his first child at the age of 14 and his second at the age of 16.[24] As a sixteen-year-old he worked in a factory sorting screws to support his family between football trials before his move to AS Trencin.[10]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 6 November 2022[25][26]

Club	Season	League			State League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Itabuna	2014	Baiano 2ª Divisão	—		1	0	—		—		—		1	0
Trenčín	2015–16	Fortuna Liga	18	6	—		2	0	2[lower-alpha 1]	2	—		22	8
Club Brugge	2015–16	Belgian First Division A	6	2	—		—		—		—		6	2
	2016–17		25	6	—		1	0	5[lower-alpha 1]	0	1[lower-alpha 2]	0	32	6
	2017–18		38	11	—		5	2	1[lower-alpha 3]	0	—		44	13
	2018–19		38	13	—		1	0	8[lower-alpha 4]	3	1[lower-alpha 2]	1	48	17
	Total		107	32	0	0	7	2	14	3	2	1	130	38
Aston Villa	2019–20	Premier League	21	5	—		1	1	—		0	0	22	6
	2020–21		3	0	—		0	0	—		0	0	3	0
	2021–22		1	0	—		0	0	—		0	0	1	0
	2022–23		0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0	0	0
	Total		25	5	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	26	6
Club Brugge (loan)	2021–22	Belgian First Division A	3	0	—		1	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Internacional (loan)	2022	Campeonato Brasileiro Série A	8	0	9	1	1	0	3[lower-alpha 5]	1	0	0	21	2
Levante (loan)	2022–23	Segunda División	13	0	—		0	0	—		0	0	13	0
Career total			174	43	10	1	12	3	19	6	2	1	217	54

Honours

AS Trenčín

• Slovak League: 2015–16
• Slovak Cup: 2015–16

Club Brugge

• Belgian First Division A: 2015–16, 2017–18[27]
• Belgian Super Cup: 2016, 2018[28]

Individual

• Belgian Young Professional Footballer of the Year: 2017–18[27]

References

External links

• Wesley at Soccerway
• Futbalnet profile
• AS Trenčín official website profile

На других языках

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[de] Wesley Moraes

Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva (* 26. November 1996 in Juiz de Fora) ist ein brasilianischer Fußballspieler. Der Stürmer steht seit der Saison 2019/20 beim englischen Erstligisten Aston Villa unter Vertrag und ist aktuell an UD Levante verliehen.

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- [en] Wesley (footballer, born November 1996)

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[es] Wesley Moraes

Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva (Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil, 26 de noviembre de 1996), más conocido como O Detonador, es un futbolista brasileño que juega como delantero en el Levante U. D. de la Segunda División de España, cedido por el Aston Villa F. C.

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[fr] Wesley (football, 1996)

Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva, plus couramment appelé Wesley, né le 26 novembre 1996 à Juiz de Fora (Brésil), est un footballeur international brésilien qui évolue au poste d'avant-centre au Levante UD, prêté par Aston Villa.

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[it] Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva

Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva – meglio noto come Wesley – (Juiz de Fora, 24 novembre 1996) è un calciatore brasiliano attaccante del Levante in prestito dall'Aston Villa.

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[ru] Мораэс Феррейра да Силва, Весли

Весли Мораэс Феррейра да Силва (порт.-браз. Wesley Moraes Ferreira da Silva; родился 26 ноября 1996 года, Жуис-ди-Фора) — бразильский футболист, нападающий английского клуба «Астон Вилла», выступающий на правах аренды за испанский «Леванте».

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