Lino Sousa

Lino Gonçalo da Cruz Sousa (born 19 January 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Arsenal. Born in Portugal, he is a youth international for England.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is da Cruz and the second or paternal family name is Sousa.
Lino Sousa
Personal information
Full name Lino da Cruz Sousa
Date of birth (2005-01-19) 19 January 2005
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 72
Youth career
0000–2022 West Bromwich Albion
2022− Arsenal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022− Arsenal 0 (0)
International career‡
2021 England U16 2 (0)
2022 England U17 2 (0)
2022− England U18 8 (0)
2023− England U19 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:15, 30 January 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 10:29, 19 October 2023 (UTC)

Early life

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

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] Sousa joined Arsenal from West Brom in January 2022.[4] Such was his progress at Arsenal there was discussions in the summer of 2022 to fast-track Lino Sousa into first team training.[5][6] Lino made such an impression that it was thought his development was part of the reason Arsenal allowed Joel Lopez to 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] He is now part of the first Arsenal Champions league squad since 2016/17.

International career

Sousa has played for England at age group level but is also still eligible to represent Portugal, the country of his birth.[11] In September 2022 he was called up to the England national under-18 football team for the first time.[12]

On 22 March 2023, Sousa made his England U18 debut during a 2-1 win over Croatia in Medulin.[13] On 10 April 2023, Sousa was called up for Portugal U18 team.[14]

On 6 September 2023, Sousa made his England U19 debut during a 1-0 defeat to Germany in Oliva.[15]

References
  1. Lino Sousa at WorldFootball.net
  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. "Lino Sousa joins the Arsenal Academy". Arsenal.com.
  12. "5 Arsenal youngsters receive England call-ups". Daily Cannon.
  13. Hides, Leanne (22 March 2023). "Report: Croatia 1-2 England MU18s".
  14. "Lino Sousa: "venho aqui para mostrar o meu futebol"". FPF (in European Portuguese). 13 June 2023. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  15. "Report: England MU19s 0-1 Germany". England Football. 6 September 2023.
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