Lino da Cruz Sousa (born 19 January 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Arsenal.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Lino da Cruz Sousa | ||
| Date of birth | (2005-01-19) 19 January 2005 (age 17) | ||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Arsenal | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 0000–2022 | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| 2022− | Arsenal | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022− | Arsenal | 0 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2021 | England U16 | 2 | (0) |
| 2022 | England U17 | 2 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:15, 30 August 2022 (UTC) | |||
Born in Portugal, when he was 8 years old he moved with his family from Lisbon to Wolverhampton. Lino played for Aspire FC before joining the academy at West Bromwich Albion FC.[1]
Lino Sousa played regularly for the West Bromwich Albion team that reached the semi-finals of the 2021 FA Youth Cup despite only being 16 years old himself at the time.[2] Sousa joined Arsenal from West Brom in January 2022.[3] Such was his progress at Arsenal there was discussions in the summer of 2022 to fast-track Lino Sousa into first team training.[4][5] Lino made such an impression that it was thought his development was part of the reason Arsenal allowed Joel Lopez to return to his native Spain in the summer of 2022 despite Lopez being a regular for the under-23 side and contributing 2 goals and 5 assists from left back.[6]
Sousa was taken on the first team pre-season training camp to Germany in the summer of 2022.[7] In September 2022 he was confirmed as being included in the Arsenal first team training and their travelling party as they prepared for the away UEFA Europa League match against FC Zurich.[8] He made his first Premier League match day squad on 18 September, 2022 against Brentford F.C. and was then named among the match day substitutes for Arsenal.[9]
Sousa has played for England at age group level but is also still eligible to represent Portugal, the country of his birth.[10] In September 2022 he was called up to the England national under-18 football team for the first time.[11]