Joelson Fernandes

Joelson Fernandes (born 28 February 2003), or more simply Joelson, is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Hatayspor.[1][2] Born in Guinea-Bissau, Joelson represents Portugal internationally.

Joelson Fernandes
Personal information
Full name Joelson Augusto Mendes Mango Fernandes
Date of birth (2003-02-28) 28 February 2003
Place of birth Bissau, Guinea-Bissau
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Hatayspor
Number 77
Youth career
0000–2020 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020 Sporting CP 4 (0)
2020–2023 Sporting CP B 10 (1)
2021–2022 → Basel (loan) 18 (0)
2023– Hatayspor 8 (0)
International career‡
2018 Portugal U15 5 (2)
2018–2019 Portugal U16 8 (1)
2019 Portugal U17 3 (1)
2020– Portugal U21 5 (0)
2021 Portugal U18 2 (0)
2021–2022 Portugal U19 6 (1)
2022– Portugal U20 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 May 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 September 2022

Club career

Joelson's play has led to him being compared to the ex-Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo.[1][3][4] He gathered the attention of several big European clubs such as RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund[5] and Arsenal.[6]

Having started training with the first squad after the COVID-19 pandemic,[7] he first figured on the bench of a Liga NOS game on 18 June 2020 against C.D. Tondela.[8]

On 31 August 2021, Joelson completed a move to Basel on a two-year-loan.[9] He joined Basel's first team during their 2021–22 season under head coach Patrick Rahmen. He played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the Cornaredo on 12 September as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Lugano.[10] However, on 2 September 2022, the loan was terminated early by mutual consent.[11] During his loan period with the club, Joelson played a total of 28 games for Basel scoring a total of 2 goals. 18 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 3 in the Swiss Cup, 2 in the UEFA Europa Conference League and 5 were friendly games. He scored both goals during the test games.[12]

On 11 July 2023, Joelson signed for Turkish club Hatayspor on a free transfer, with Sporting keeping 50% of the player's economic rights.[13]

International career

Through his double nationality, Joelson is eligible to play for both Portugal and Guinea-Bissau.[4]

He became an under-17 Portugal youth international in November 2019, aged only 16, in a Euro qualifier match against Albania.[14] He made his debut for Portugal U21 in September 2020.[15]

Personal life

Born in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, Joelson moved to Portugal in 2014.[4]

Joelson Fernandes' family has very close ties to both football and Sporting Portugal: his father, Mango, was part of the Sporting youth setups, before becoming a footballing agent, and Joelson's younger brother is also part of the Lions academy.[4]

References
  1. Maston, Tom (19 May 2020). "Joelson Fernandes: Teen wing wizard following in Ronaldo's footsteps at Sporting". Goal. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  2. Joelson Fernandes at Soccerway. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. Espadinha, Victor (16 June 2020). "Jovane já dá para os "alfinetes"". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. Dupont, Régis (11 October 2019). "Les prodiges du football européen : Joelson Fernandes, dans la plus pure tradition des Lions". L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. "Joelson desperta atenção do Dortmund". A Bola (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. Mondal, Subhankar (23 May 2020). "Arsenal reportedly have advantage in race for £40m teenager likened to Cristiano Ronaldo". HITC. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. Granada, Ricardo (3 June 2020). "Joelson pronto a ir ao choque". Record (in Portuguese). Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  8. "Mathieu regressa a um onze com uma estreia a titular". A Bola (in Portuguese). 18 June 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. "Der FCB verpflichtet Joelson Fernandes | FC Basel - die offizielle Website".
  10. FC Basel 1893 (12 September 2021). "1:1 im Tessin – Lugano und der FCB teilen sich die Punkte". 1:1 in Ticino – Lugano and FCB share the points. FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  11. FC Basel 1893 (2 September 2022). "Joelson Fernandes wechselt zurück zu Sporting Lisbon". Joelson Fernandes is moving back to Sporting Lisbon (in German). FC Basel 1893 AG. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  12. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv” (2022). "Joelson Fernandes - FCB statistic". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2022.
  13. "Joelson Fernandes já fez exames médicos no Hatayspor" [Joelson Fernandes already did medical exams at Hatayspor] (in European Portuguese). O Jogo. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  14. "Portugal-Albania | Under-17". UEFA. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. "Joelson Fernandes" (in Portuguese). Portuguese Football Federation. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
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