David Sualehe
Personal information
Full name David de Senna Fernandes Sualehe[1]
Date of birth (1997-03-23) 23 March 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth Porto, Portugal
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Olimpija Ljubljana
Number 3
Youth career
2007–2008 Odivelas
2008–2010 CAC
2010–2011 Sporting CP
2011 Belenenses
2012 CAC
2013 Boavista
2013–2016 Porto
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015 Porto B 0 (0)
2016–2018 Sporting CP B 39 (0)
2018–2020 Vitória Guimarães B 23 (0)
2019–2020 → Farense (loan) 14 (0)
2020–2022 Paços de Ferreira 0 (0)
2021–2022 → Académica (loan) 21 (0)
2022– Olimpija Ljubljana 41 (1)
International career
2014 Portugal U18 2 (0)
2016 Portugal U19 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:44, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

David de Senna Fernandes Sualehe (born 23 March 1997) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Slovenian club Olimpija Ljubljana.

Career

Born in Porto and of Mozambican descent,[2] Sualehe was on the books of several clubs as a youth, including Sporting CP and Belenenses in Lisbon, and FC Porto and Boavista in his hometown. He took part with Porto under-19 in the UEFA Youth League in 2015–16.[3]

In July 2016, Sualehe ended his three-year spell at Porto by signing a five-year contract at Sporting with a release clause of €45 million.[4] On 6 August, he made his professional debut with Sporting B in a 2016–17 LigaPro match against Portimonense, playing the first 73 minutes of a 2–1 home loss before being substituted for Bubacar Djaló.[5]

On 30 August 2018, Sualehe signed a three-year deal at Vitória de Guimarães, being again assigned to the reserve team in the second tier.[6] A year later, after relegation, he was loaned to Farense in the same league.[7]

Sualehe moved to Primeira Liga club Paços de Ferreira on 1 September 2020, having contributed to Farense's promotion to the top flight.[8] Nearly exactly a year later, having not played any games for the Castores, he was loaned to second-tier Académica de Coimbra.[9]

On 12 July 2022, Sualehe left Portugal for the first time in his career, signing a two-year deal with the option of a third at Olimpija Ljubljana in the Slovenian PrvaLiga.[10] He played 30 times in his first season, scoring once on 16 April 2023 to open a 2–0 home win over Maribor in the Eternal derby and win the title with five games remaining; the 20-metre strike was his first goal in 123 senior league appearances in his career.[11] With a 2–1 extra time win over the same opponents in the cup final, the team secured a double.[12]

Personal life

In January 2022, Sualehe's €100,000 Mercedes-Benz E-Class was stolen in Coimbra. It was found by the National Republican Guard in Vila das Aves, abandoned.[13]

Honours

Olimpija Ljubljana

References

  1. ^ "David De Senna Fernandes Sualehe". nzs.si (in Slovenian). Football Association of Slovenia. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  2. ^ "Os "mambas" jogam em Portugal" [The "Mambas" play in Portugal]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 5 October 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  3. ^ "FC Porto despede-se da Youth League com empate" [FC Porto say goodbye to the Youth League with draw]. Record (in Portuguese). 9 December 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  4. ^ "Sporting contrata jogador ao FC Porto" [Sporting sign player from FC Porto] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 3 July 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  5. ^ "Pires com faro deu a volta ao Sporting B" [Switched-on Pires went around Sporting B]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 6 August 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  6. ^ "OFICIAL: Vitória anuncia ex-FC Porto e Sporting para a B" [OFFICIAL: Vitória announce ex-FC Porto and Sporting player for the B team] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  7. ^ "Farense garante David Sualehe por empréstimo" [Farense confirm David Sualehe on loan] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  8. ^ "David Sualehe reforça Paços de Ferreira" [David Sualehe bolsters Paços de Ferreira] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 1 September 2020. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  9. ^ "OFICIAL: P. Ferreira empresta David Sualehe à Académica" [OFFICIAL: P. Ferreira loan David Sualehe to Académica] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Po napadu Olimpija tudi obrambo okrepila s Portugalcem" [After the attack, Olimpija also strengthened the defence with a Portuguese] (in Slovenian). Radiotelevizija Slovenija. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  11. ^ a b Plestenjak, Rok (16 April 2023). "Neverjetno, kaj je uspelo Portugalcu proti Mariboru!" [It's incredible what the Portuguese managed to do against Maribor!] (in Slovenian). Siol. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Portugueses do Olimpia Liubliana conquistam 'dobradinha'" [Olimpija Ljubljana's Portuguese conquer the 'double']. A Bola (in Portuguese). 7 May 2023. Retrieved 4 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Mercedes de David Sualehe que havia sido furtado foi recuperado em Vila das Aves" [David Sualehe's Mercedes which had been stolen was recovered in Vila das Aves]. Record (in Portuguese). 14 January 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.

External links

NK Olimpija Ljubljana – current squad
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