Vieira: Ronaldo

2015-2018 (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Midfield

Born: Bissau, Guinea Bissau: 10-08-1998

Debut: v Preston North End (a) (substitute): 07-05-2016

5' 10" 11st 9 lb

Born in Bissau, Capital of Guinea-Bissau, he was raised in Portugal and started his career with Benfica. The family, including twin brother Romario moved to England in 2011 to allow the boys to follow a football career. He studied at York College and joined the i2i Football Academy. He had trials with the Leeds United Academy and was given sixty minutes in the home 0-0 draw with Barnsley for the Under-Eighteen side on 18th April 2015 before being replaced by Malik Wilks and was also part of the Leeds Under-Twenty-One squad in April 2015 that drew with an Isle of Man side 1-1 in Douglas. He was called up once more by a strong Leeds Under-Twenty-one side, which included several over-age players with first team experience, in which he came on during the second half as a replacement for Tyler Denton in a 3-0 win over Tadcaster Albion on 15th July 2015. He was given a scholarship and went on to score once in twenty-five starts for the Under-Eighteens in 2015-16 and also started eight games and was a substitute in five without scoring for the Under-Twenty-Ones. On 5th May 2016 he was given a two year professional contract. Two days later he was named on the bench for the first team and made his debut in the 1-1 draw with Preston North End at Deepdale, when he came on as eighty-ninth minute replacement for Stuart Dallas. The young defensive midfielder was called up by United to join the 2016 pre-season build-up and was part of the squad that toured Ireland. He was on the bench for the first game on 13th July 2016 when United visited Shelbourne at Tolka Park on 13th July 2016 and he played the final thirty minutes. He was in the starting eleven three days later as United beat Shamrock Rovers 3-0 at Tallaght Park, and he played the first sixty minutes before being replaced by Toumani Diagouraga, but he played a full game in a 4-3 win at Guiseley on 22nd July 2016. He was included in the final friendly game at Elland Road in a 2-1 win of Serie A team Atalanta of Italy on 30th July 2016 and he played eighty-two minutes before being replaced by Luke Murphy, after having an impressive game. He made his starting League debut in United's first League game of the season at Loftus Road on 7th August 2016, where they lost 0-3 to Queens Park Rangers and again impressed in a full game. He also started in the League Cup win at Fleetwood Town three days later and played seventy-five minutes before being replaced by Marcus Antonsson, before playing another full game in the 1-2 League loss to Birmingham City at Elland Road on 13th August 2016. He started from the bench three days later in a 1-1 draw at home to Fulham and came on to replace Stuart Dallas in the fifty-eighth minute. He was in the starting line-up in the 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on 20th August and played a full game, but was rested from the League Cup win at Luton Town three days later, and he was back in the starting eleven for the 1-3 loss at Nottingham Forest on 27th August 2016 and gave way to Kalvin Phillips after sixty-five minutes. On 1st September 2016 he signed a new three year deal and this would keep him at the club until the summer of 2019. His younger twin brother, Romario, signed his first one year contract on the same day. Throughout the 2016-17 season he was in direct competition with Liam Bridcutt and Eunan O'Kane, who both had injury problems from time to time, and Kalvin Phillips, who too was emerging as a fine young defensive midfielder. He more than held his own, playing in thirty-four of the thirty-eight League games, allbeit that ten were as a substitute. He also scored his first League goal with an injury time goal to give United victory over Norwich City at Carrow Road on 5th November 2016. He is eligible to represent Guinea Bissau, Portugal and England. Initially, when pressed he proclaimed that his first choice would be Portugal. But it was England that gave him his first International chance. On 16th May 2017, Vieira was called up to the England Under-Twenty squad for the 2017 Toulon Tournament. Vieira made his England debut in the first game of the tournament, playing the full ninety minutes in a 1-0 win over Angola on 29th May 2017 at the Stade De Lattre de Tassigny, Aubagne. Three days later he started in England's 7-1 demolition of Cuba at the Stade d'Honneur Marcel Roustan, Salon-de-Provence and after being involved in a heavy two footed tackle which saw Neisser Sando Herve red carded five minutes before half-time, he was replaced by Callum Slattery in the fifty-fourth minute.He remained unused on the bench as England defeated Japan 2-1 at the Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny, Aubagne on 4th June 2017. The win saw England advance undefeated through to the knockout stage. They encountered Scotland in the semi-final stage on 8th June 2017 at the Stade Parsemain, Fos-sur-Mer and Vieira gained his third cap as he played a full game in the 3-0 win over Scotland which took them into the final where they met Ivory Coast, who, while being unbeaten, had failed to beat Wales in the group games. The game took place on 10th June 2017 at the Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny, Aubagne. Vieira gained his fourth cap with a full game as the game ended 1-1 after extra time and was decided on penalties. Vieira overcame all the pressure as he had to take the fifth England penalty with the score 4-3 in England's favour. England won 5-3 on penalties. He took his caps to ten with six appearances in the Under-Twenty Elite League and by October 2018 he had started seven, been a substitute on three occasions and also had two games in which he was unused on the bench. On 31st August 2017, he came on for the final twenty minutes in a 3-0 win over the Netherlands at New Bucks Head Stadium at Telford when he replaced Tayo Edun. On 4th September 2017 he started in central midfield in a 0-0 draw with Switzerland at Stadion Schützenwiese in Winterthur before beong replaced by Tayo Edun with fifteen minutes left on the clock. His seventh cap came on 27th March 2018 in a 3-0 win over Portugal Academy Stadium, Manchester, when he replaced Joshua Da Silva in the eighty-second minute. He sat unused on the bench on 6th September 2018 as Switzerland were beaten 2-0 at St George's Park, Tatenhill, Burton-on-Trent. Four days later he played a full game at Sportpark Nieuw Zuid, Katwijk aan Zee, in which Netherlands inflicted a 3-1 defeat on England. On 11th October 2018 Mill Farm at Wesham, he replaced Joe Willock in the sixty-second minute of a 2-1 win over Italy and four days later he played a full ninety minutes in a 1-1 draw with the Czech Republic at the Fotbalovy Stadion Strelecky Ostrov in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. He had also played three times for the England Under-Twenty-Ones, after first twice sitting on the bench. On 26th May 2018 at Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny, Aubagne in a 2-1 win over China Under-Twenties and then three days later at the Stade Marcel Roustan, Salon-de-Provence in a 0-0 draw with Mexico Under-Twenty-Ones in the Toulon Tournament, he had sat on the bench. However, he then played a full game in a 4-0 win over Qatar Under-Nineteens at Stade Parsemain, Fos-sur-Mer, scoring England's second goal in the fifty-eighth minute. This was followed by a 3-1 win over Scotland Under-Twenty-Ones in the Semi-Finals at Stade de Lattre-de-Tassigny, Aubagne in which he played seventy-three minutes before giving way to Hamza Choudhury on 6th June 2018 and three days later, in the Final, at the Stade Francis-Turcan, Martigues when they defeated Mexico Under-Twenty-Ones 2-1 and he gave way to Hamza Choudhury after fifty-six minutes as England won the tournament for the second time in two years with Vieira gaining a second winners' medal. He had carried on his good form from the 2016-17 season and apart from injuries and suspension he was a regular in the Leeds defensive midfield starting Twenty-three League games and coming off the bench in another five, while also being an unused substitute nine times. He scored once in the season with United's final goal in the eighty-ninth minute if a 5-1 win over Newport County in the League Cup on 22nd August 2018, as he started three and came off the bench once in that competition. After the season ended he was part of the Leeds team that toured Myanmar and it came as a total surprise when the newly promoted to the EPL, Cardiff City, were said to be interested in making a bid for his services. However, it was Serie A UC Sampdoria that paid between £6.2million and £7.7million to take him to Italy. Marcelo Bielsa was not best pleased, but more from the standpoint of one year hence his value could have doubled. Owner Andrea Radrizzani had little choice as he had spent £13m this summer on striker Patrick Bamford, from Middlesbrough, and former Wolves left-back Barry Douglas. So, Vieira signed a five year contract and thought about taking Italian lessons as he joined the ever increasing list of England youth internationals to move overseas. No doubt he will have a fight on his hands to establish himself with at Serie A level, as he has spent seven Seie A and one Coppa Italia games unused on the bench and his only time on the pitch was on 2nd Setember 2018 in a 3-0 home win over SSC Napoli, when he managed seven minutes as a replacement for Albin Ekdal and on 15th September 2018, in a 5-0 away win at Frosinone Calcio when he replaced the same player after seventy- one minutes.