Emerson Royal

Emerson Royal

Personal information
Full name	Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior[1]
Date of birth	(1999-01-14) 14 January 1999 (age 23)
Place of birth	São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Right-back
Club information
Current team	Tottenham Hotspur
Number	12
Youth career
	Condor
	Unidos da Cordenonsi
	Guanabara
	Palmeiras
	Grêmio
	São Paulo
2014–2016	Ponte Preta
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2018	Ponte Preta	19	(1)
2018–2019	Atlético Mineiro	23	(1)
2019	→ Betis (loan)	6	(0)
2019–2021	Barcelona	3	(0)
2019–2021	→ Betis (loan)	67	(4)
2021–	Tottenham Hotspur	20	(0)
National team‡
2017–2019	Brazil U20	11	(0)
2019–2020	Brazil U23	10	(0)
2019–	Brazil	7	(0)
Honours Men's Football Representing  Brazil Copa América Runner-up 2021 Brazil
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 16:27, 26 February 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 January 2022

Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior (born 14 January 1999), known as Emerson Royal or simply Emerson, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the Brazil national team.

Early life[]

Emerson was born in São Paulo and was raised in Americana, São Paulo.^[2] He got his nickname "Royal" as his uncle said he resembled the mascot of the Royal-branded gelatin dessert sold in Brazil.^[3]

Club career[]

Ponte Preta[]

Emerson joined Ponte Preta's youth setup in 2014, after notably representing Palmeiras, São Paulo and Grêmio.^[4][2] After appearing as an unused substitute in some matches of the 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, he made his senior debut on 22 February 2017, replacing injured Artur in a 2–2 Campeonato Paulista away draw against Linense. Despite being booked and conceding a penalty, he was given his first start three days later, in a 1–0 home defeat of São Bernardo.^{[citation needed]}

Emerson made his Série A debut on 5 November 2017, replacing injured John Kleber in a 2–0 loss at Bahia. He contributed with three league appearances during the campaign, as his side suffered relegation.^{[citation needed]}

Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2018 season,^[5] Emerson became a regular starter for Macaca, making 14 appearances in the 2018 Campeonato Paulista. On 2 April 2018, he scored his first professional goal, the winning one in the Campeonato Paulista do Interior final against Mirassol.^[6]

Atlético Mineiro[]

On 27 April 2018, Emerson signed a five-year deal with Atlético Mineiro,^[7] for a rumoured fee of R$5 million. As a part of the deal, Danilo Barcelos moved in the opposite direction on loan.^[8]

Emerson made his debut for the club on 19 May 2018, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win over rivals Cruzeiro.^[9] Initially a backup to Patric, he ended the year with 23 league appearances. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 30 September, netting his team's third in a 5–2 home routing of Sport.^{[citation needed]}

Real Betis and Barcelona[]

On 31 January 2019, Atlético announced the transfer of Emerson to Barcelona, effective as of July 2019, for €12.7 million.^[10] The deal consisted of a joint financial operation between Barcelona and fellow La Liga side Real Betis, in which each club paid half of the transfer fee and retained a percentage of Emerson's economic rights. He was to become a Betis player in July 2019, with Barcelona holding the option of reacquiring him for €6 million in 2021.^[11] Emerson initially joined Betis on loan from Atlético for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, during which period he made seven appearances for the club.^[12] He then became a regular starter for the Andalusians, and scored his first goal abroad on 27 September 2019, but in a 1–5 loss to Villarreal.^{[citation needed]}

On 2 June 2021, Barcelona exercised their option to bring back Emerson for three seasons by paying Real Betis €9 million for the transfer. Emerson had spent two-and-half seasons at Betis.^[13][14]

Tottenham Hotspur[]

On the final day of the August 2021 transfer window, Tottenham announced they had acquired Emerson from Barcelona. Reports indicate Tottenham paid a £25.8 million transfer fee, agreeing to a term of five years with the player.^[15] His debut was in the Premier League away to Crystal Palace which Tottenham lost 3–0.^[16]

International career[]

Emerson was called up to the Brazil under-20 team for the 2017 Toulon Tournament.^[17] He was the first-choice right-back at the 2019 South American U-20 Championship and the 2019 Toulon Tournament, having won the latter with Brazil's under-23 side.^{[citation needed]}

Emerson made his senior international debut for Brazil on 19 November 2019, coming off the bench in a 3–0 victory over South Korea.^[18]

On 11 June 2021, Emerson was called up by manager Tite for the 2021 Copa América.^[19] He made his tournament debut on 17 June, playing the last six minutes in a 4–0 thrashing of Peru in Brazil's second group match. Ten days later, he was given his first start as he played the full match in a 1–1 draw in their final group stage match against Ecuador. On 10 July, he played in the final, after coming on in the 76th minute in their 0–1 defeat against Argentina.^[20]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 1 March 2022^[21]

International[]

As of match played 27 January 2022^[22]

Honours[]

Ponte Preta

• Campeonato Paulista do Interior: 2018^{[citation needed]}

Brazil U23

• Toulon Tournament: 2019^[23]

References[]

External links[]

• Emerson Royal at BDFutbol