Nélson Macedo Monte (born 30 July 1995) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Málaga CF as a right-back or a central defender.

Nélson Monte
Personal information
Full name Nélson Macedo Monte[1]
Date of birth (1995-07-30) 30 July 1995 (age 29)[1]
Place of birth Vila do Conde, Portugal[1]
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
Málaga
Number 20
Youth career
2004–2008 Futsal
2008–2012 Benfica
2012–2014 Rio Ave
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014−2021 Rio Ave 103 (0)
2021−2023 Dnipro-1 8 (0)
2022Almería (loan) 0 (0)
2022−2023Chaves (loan) 31 (0)
2023− Málaga 44 (2)
International career
2013−2014 Portugal U19 13 (0)
2015 Portugal U20 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 November 2024

Formed at Rio Ave, he made over 125 Primeira Liga appearances for that club as well as Chaves, in addition to spells in Ukraine and Spain.

Club career

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Rio Ave

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Born in Vila do Conde, Monte joined local Rio Ave FC's youth system in 2012, signing from S.L. Benfica to finish his development.[2] On 30 January 2014, he and Silvério agreed to five-year professional contracts.[3]

On 12 April 2014, while still a junior, Monte made his professional − and Primeira Liga − debut, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1−2 home loss against S.C. Olhanense.[4] On 21 August the following year, he was sent off in a 1–0 win over S.C. Braga also at the Estádio dos Arcos.[5]

Monte was in advanced negotiations with FC Porto in early February 2016,[2] but the two clubs did not agree terms.[6] In 2017–18, after the losses of Roderick Miranda and Marcelo to the back line, he played the majority of games for the first time; the following season ended for him in March due to surgery on his left ankle.[7]

On 1 October 2020, Monte missed in a penalty shootout at home to AC Milan in the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League; his attempt would have won the game had it gone in, but the Italians won 9–8.[8]

Monte cut ties with Rio Ave in September 2021, having totalled 139 appearances without scoring.[9]

Dnipro

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Shortly after leaving, Monte joined SC Dnipro-1 in the Ukrainian Premier League on a two-year deal.[10] On 24 February 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he was evacuated from the city of Dnipro;[11] he drove into Romania and took a flight back to his home country.[12]

On 7 March 2022, FIFA suspended the contracts of all foreign players and coaches affiliated with the Ukrainian Association of Football until 30 June, with the former being allowed to sign a contract with clubs in other countries until that date.[13] Eight days later, Monte used that regulation to sign with UD Almería of the Spanish Segunda División until the end of the season.[14] The Andalusian side won promotion as champions, though he was completely unused.[15][16]

Monte returned to his country's top flight on 5 July 2022, signing for a year at newly promoted G.D. Chaves.[17]

Málaga

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On 23 August 2023, Monte returned to Spain, signing for Málaga CF in the third-tier Primera Federación.[18]

International career

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Monte earned 13 caps for Portugal at under-19 level, starting with a 1–1 draw with Spain in Budapest on 10 October 2013. He played three under-20 matches in 2015, including a group finale victory over Colombia on their way to the quarter-finals of the FIFA World Cup in New Zealand.[19]

Career statistics

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As of 26 March 2024[20]
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rio Ave 2013–14 Primeira Liga 1 0 1 0
2014–15 6 0 2 0 0 0 3[a] 0 11 0
2015–16 12 0 1 0 3[a] 0 16 0
2016–17 9 0 0 0 0 0 2[a] 0 11 0
2017–18 26 0 3 0 3 0 32 0
2018–19 13 0 1 0 2[b] 0 1 0 17 0
2019–20 20 0 2 0 2 0 24 0
2020–21 16 0 2 0 1[b] 0 2[c] 0 21 0
2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 103 0 11 0 3 0 16 0 133 0
Dnipro-1 2021–22 Ukrainian Premier League 8 0 1 0 9 0
2023–24 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 8 0 1 0 0 0 9 0
Almería (loan) 2021–22 Segunda División 0 0 0 0
Chaves (loan) 2022–23 Primeira Liga 31 0 2 0 33 0
Málaga 2023–24 Primera Federación 24 0 1 0 25 0
Career Total 166 0 13 0 3 0 18 0 200 0
  1. ^ a b c Appearances in Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in relegation play-offs

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Nélson Monte" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  2. ^ a b Barros, Carlos José (1 February 2016). "Nelson Monte reforça o FC Porto" [Nelson Monte strengthens FC Porto] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Nélson Monte e Silvério assinam contrato profissional" [Nélson Monte and Silvério sign professional contracts]. Record (in Portuguese). 30 January 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Rio Ave 1−2 Olhanense (final)" [Rio Ave 1−2 Olhanense (end)] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Rio Ave bate Sporting de Braga e obtém primeira vitória na Liga" [Rio Ave beat Sporting de Braga and obtain first League victory]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 21 August 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  6. ^ "Negócio Nélson Monte não avançou" [Nélson Monte deal did not advance]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 2 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Rio Ave: Nelson Monte operado, só regressa em 2019/2020" [Rio Ave: Nelson Monte operated on, will only return in 2019/2020] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  8. ^ Delgado, Evandro (1 October 2020). "Rio Ave cai após longa e inacreditável maratona de penaltis frente ao Milan. Infantilidade de Borevkovic aos 120 tramou equipa" [Rio Ave fall after long and unbelievable marathon of penalties against Milan. Borevkovic's childishness in the 120th minute did team in] (in Portuguese). SAPO. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  9. ^ Marques, Ângelo (3 September 2021). "Desvendado destino de Nelson Monte" [Nelson Monte's destination disclosed] (in Portuguese). Rádio Onda Viva. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  10. ^ "Depois de rescindir com o Rio Ave, Monte ruma à Ucrânia" [After rescinding with Rio Ave, Monte heads to Ukraine] (in Portuguese). TVI 24. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  11. ^ Marques, David (24 February 2022). "Nelson Monte em fuga da Ucrânia: defesa português já não está em Dnipro" [Nélson Monte fleeing Ukraine: Portuguese defender is no longer in Dnipro] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  12. ^ "Nelson Monte já deixou a Ucrânia: está na Roménia e a salvo" [Nélson Monte has already left Ukraine: he is in Romania and safe] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
  13. ^ "FIFA adopts temporary employment and registration rules to address several issues in relation to war in Ukraine". FIFA. 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  14. ^ "Nelson Monte, nuevo fichaje para reforzar el centro de la defensa" [Nelson Monte, new signing to bolster centre of defence] (Press release) (in Spanish). UD Almería. 15 March 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2022.
  15. ^ Miralles, Carlos (20 May 2022). "Un superviviente y dos cedidos en lo más alto" [A survivor and two loanees at the top]. La Voz de Almería (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Almería de Samu, Carriço, Dyego Sousa e Monte sobe à Liga Espanhola" [Samu, Carriço, Dyego Sousa and Monte's Almería promoted to Spanish League] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. 29 May 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Oficial: Nélson Monte de regresso à I Liga para jogar no Chaves" [Official: Nélson Monte returning to I League to play for Chaves] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 5 July 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Nelson Monte es el décimo fichaje y llega para ascender: "El Málaga es el club más grande"" [Nélson Monte is the tenth signing and arrives in order to gain promotion: "Málaga is the biggest club"] (in Spanish). Cadena COPE. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Colômbia-Portugal, 1–3: Entrar a ganhar e saber controlar" [Colombia-Portugal, 1–3: Early lead and knowing how to control it]. Record (in Portuguese). 6 June 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  20. ^ *Nélson Monte at Soccerway
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