André Leão

André Leão
	Leão being presented by Valladolid
Personal information
Full name	André Filipe Ribeiro Leão
Date of birth	20 May 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Freamunde, Portugal
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Valladolid
Number	8
Youth career
1993–2003	Freamunde
Senior career*
Years	Team
2003–2005	Freamunde
2005–2006	Porto B
2006–2007	Beira-Mar
2007–2010	CFR Cluj
2010–2014	Paços Ferreira
2014–	Valladolid
International career
2005–2006	Portugal U20
Medal record
CFR Cluj
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 April 2016

André Filipe Ribeiro Leão (born 20 May 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Valladolid as a defensive midfielder.

Football career

Leão was born in Freamunde. After a brief spell with FC Porto's reserves, he made his professional debuts at Aveiro's S.C. Beira-Mar, his Primeira Liga debut coming on 17 September 2006 in a 2–0 home win against C.F. Estrela da Amadora.

Leão was used regularly during that season, but only won one of the matches in which he appeared and his club was relegated.

Leão then moved to Romania with CFR Cluj, joining a host of compatriots and winning the national championship in his debut campaign, appearing in 15 games. However, he would be rarely used during his two 1/2-year spell, and returned to his country in the late hours of the January 2010 transfer window, joining F.C. Paços de Ferreira.

In the 2010 off-season, Swansea City of the Football League Championship made an offer to sign Leão,^[1] but nothing came of it. He started in all his 29 league appearances in 2012–13 (two goals), as Paços finished a best-ever third and qualified to the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever.

On 12 June 2014, aged 29, Leão signed a three-year contract with Spanish club Real Valladolid.^[2]

^ "Swansea set to sign Leao". Planet Swans. 22 June 2010. Retrieved 22 June 2010.
^ "André Leao, primer fichaje del Pucela 14/15" (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 June 2014. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
^ "Cupa României ramâne la Cluj-Napoca!" (in Romanian). CFR Cluj. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 14 June 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
^ "CFR Cluj câştigat Supercupa României" (in Romanian). Gandul. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 27 July 2009. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)