Lino Sousa
Personal information
Full name Lino da Cruz Sousa
Date of birth (2005-01-19) 19 January 2005 (age 19)
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Plymouth Argyle
(on loan from Aston Villa)
Number 3
Youth career
0000–2022 West Bromwich Albion
2022−2024 Arsenal
2024 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2024– Aston Villa 0 (0)
2024– → Plymouth Argyle (loan) 5 (0)
International career‡
2019−2020 England U15 2 (0)
2021 England U16 2 (0)
2022 England U17 2 (0)
2022− England U18 8 (0)
2023− England U19 8 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:42, 8 March 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15:35, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Lino Gonçalo da Cruz Sousa (born 19 January 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Plymouth Argyle on loan from Premier League club Aston Villa. Born in Portugal, he is a youth international for England.

Early life

Born in Portugal, when Sousa was eight-years-old he moved with his family from Lisbon to Wolverhampton. Sousa played for Aspire FC before joining the academy at West Bromwich Albion.[2]

Career

Early Career

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.[3]

Arsenal

Sousa joined Arsenal from West Brom in January 2022.[4] There was discussions at Arsenal in the summer of 2022 to fast-track Lino Sousa into first team training.[5][6] Sousa's quick development was reported to be part of the reason Arsenal allowed Joel Lopez's return to his native Spain in the summer of 2022, despite Lopez being a regular for the under-23 side and contributing two goals and five assists from left back.[7]

Sousa was taken on the first team pre-season training camp to Germany in the summer of 2022.[8] 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.[9] He made his first Premier League match day squad on 18 September, 2022 against Brentford and was then named among the match-day substitutes for Arsenal.[10]

Aston Villa

On 1 February 2024, Sousa signed for Premier League club Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee, immediately joining Championship side Plymouth Argyle on loan until the end of the season.[11][12] On 3 February, Sousa made his Football League debut as a late substitute in a 1–0 victory over Swansea City.[13]

International career

Sousa has played for England at age group level but is also still eligible to represent Portugal, the country of his birth.[14] In September 2022 he was called up to the England national under-18 football team for the first time.[15]

On 22 March 2023, Sousa made his England U18 debut during a 2–1 win over Croatia in Medulin.[16] On 10 April 2023, Sousa was called up for Portugal U18 team.[17]

On 6 September 2023, Sousa made his England U19 debut during a 1–0 defeat to Germany in Oliva.[18]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 February 2024[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arsenal 2022–23 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3[a] 0 3 0
2023–24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2[a] 1 2 1
Total 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 5 1
Aston Villa 2023–24 Premier League 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0 0 0
Plymouth Argyle (loan) 2023–24 Championship 5 0 0 0 — — 0 0 5 0
Career total 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 10 1
  1. ^ a b Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Arsenal U21

References

  1. ^ Lino Sousa at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "Lino Sousa in line to be given chance after Arsenal make transfer decision on left-back". Football.London. 17 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Arsenal told what to expect after completing exciting West Brom transfer". Birminghammail.co.uk. 28 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Arsenal snap up highly-rated youngster Lino Sousa from West Bromwich Albion". Sportsmole.co.uk.
  5. ^ "ARSENAL STAFF ARE RAVING ABOUT 'HUGELY TALENTED' TEENAGER, COULD NOW BE FAST-TRACKED". HITC.com.
  6. ^ "Mikel Arteta has already signed Kieran Tierney replacement at Arsenal after injury setback". Football.London.com. 6 April 2022.
  7. ^ "Lino Sousa Tipped To Replace Departing Joel Lopez". Sportbible.com.
  8. ^ "MIKEL ARTETA HAS TAKEN 17-YEAR-OLD ARSENAL TALENT TO GERMANY FOR PRE-SEASON". HITC.
  9. ^ "Lino Sousa to travel with Arsenal first team ahead of Europa League opener". The Athletic.
  10. ^ "15-year-old Ethan Nwaneri included in Arsenal squad to face Brentford". metro.co.uk. 18 September 2022.
  11. ^ "Sousa joins Aston Villa". www.avfc.co.uk. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  12. ^ "Argyle Sign Lino Sousa". www.pafc.co.uk. 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  13. ^ "Whittaker gives Plymouth first away win at Swansea". BBC Sport. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  14. ^ "Lino Sousa joins the Arsenal Academy". Arsenal.com.
  15. ^ "5 Arsenal youngsters receive England call-ups". Daily Cannon.
  16. ^ Hides, Leanne (22 March 2023). "Report: Croatia 1-2 England MU18s".
  17. ^ "Lino Sousa: "venho aqui para mostrar o meu futebol"". FPF (in European Portuguese). 13 June 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  18. ^ "Report: England MU19s 0-1 Germany". England Football. 6 September 2023.
  19. ^ "England - L. Sousa - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 5 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Hammers beat Arsenal 5–1 in the 2022–23 FA Youth Cup final at Emirates Stadium". The Football Association. 25 April 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2023.

External links

Plymouth Argyle F.C. – current squad
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