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Diego Lopes (footballer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the fighter, see Diego Lopes (fighter).
For other uses, see Diego López (disambiguation).
In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is da Silva and the second or paternal family name is Lopes.

Diego Lopes
Personal information
Full name Diego Hipólito da Silva Lopes
Date of birth (1994-05-03) 3 May 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth São Paulo, Brazil
Height 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Qingdao Hainiu
Number 20
Youth career
2008 Palmeiras
2008–2012 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2013 Benfica 0 (0)
2012–2013 → Rio Ave (loan) 21 (0)
2013–2015 Rio Ave 59 (5)
2015–2018 Benfica 0 (0)
2015–2016 → Kayserispor (loan) 22 (0)
2016 → América Mineiro (loan) 5 (0)
2017–2018 → Panetolikos (loan) 22 (1)
2018–2021 Rio Ave 72 (11)
2021–2023 Lion City Sailors 67 (24)
2024– Qingdao Hainiu 5 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16:12, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

Diego Hipólito da Silva Lopes (born 3 May 1994), known as Diego Lopes, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Chinese Super League club Qingdao Hainiu.

Lopes is the most expensive and the first multimillion-dollar player signing in the Singapore Premier League history.

Career

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Benfica

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Born in São Paulo, Lopes arrived in Portugal in December 2008, after a short spell at Palmeiras and joined Benfica.[1] Rated by football legend, Rui Costa, as a top prospect, Lopes helped the Lisbon-side, win their first Under-15 Championship since the 1988–89 season.[2]

Rio Ave

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On 10 June 2012, Lopes joined Rio Ave in Primeira Liga,[3] and made his debut on 2 September 2012 in a draw against Académica.[4] His first goal arriving twenty-four days later in a 2012–13 Taça da Liga match against Freamunde.[5] A year later, on 3 August 2013, Lopes signed a permanent deal with Rio Ave for five seasons.[6] After good performances in his third year in Vila do Conde, which included a career best, nine goals, he was touted for a return to Benfica.[7]

Return to Benfica and loan moves

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The move was confirmed days later, when he rejoined Benfica on a five-year deal.[8][9] However, he was not included in the first-team and was subsequently loaned to Turkish team Kayserispor alongside teammate, Derley.[10] Lopes scored his only goal for them in a 2015–16 Turkish Cup match against İnegölspor on 26 January 2016, scoring the second goal in a 2–0 win.[11][12] After the season concluded, Lopes did not stay with the Turkish team and he is loaned for six-months to Brazilian club, América Mineiro in July 2016.[12][13] After three months, América Mineiro terminated the loan deal ahead of time and returned him to Benfica.[14]

In January 2017, Lopes was loaned for a third time, joining Panetolikos in the Super League Greece for a period of 18 months.[15] Panetolikos and Lopes parted ways on 13 January 2018.[16]

Return to Rio Ave

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Three days later on 16 January 2018, after he parted ways with the Greece club, Lopes transfer to his former club, Rio Ave on a five-year contract.[17] Lopes appeared 201 times for Rio Ave scoring 25 goals and contributing 26 assists in his 9 years journey with the club.[citation needed]

Lion City Sailors

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On 20 January 2021, Lopes moved to Asia to signed with Singaporean club Lion City Sailors for a Singapore record transfer fee of SGD $2.9 million (€1.8m).[18] On 11 April 2021, he scored first hat-trick for the club and provided 2 assists against Geylang International in a massive 8–0 away win. In Lopes first season, he helped the Sailors to win the 2021 Singapore Premier League title.[citation needed]

On 19 February 2022, Lopes started the 2022 season by providing an assist which sees the club to win the 2022 Singapore Community Shield. In the 2022 AFC Champions League group stage fixtures on 18 April 2022, Lopes scored the second goal which sees his club gaining media attention by defeating Korean club, Daegu FC 3–0 and giving them the 3 points in the table. Lopes ended the season being named in the 2022 Singapore Premier League Team of the Year.[citation needed]

On 25 September 2023, Lopes scored a hat-trick and provided 2 assists in the 2023 Singapore Cup fixtures against Balestier Khalsa in a huge 7–0 victory. On 9 December 2023, he helped the club to lift the 2023 Singapore Cup. On 15 December 2023, Lion City Sailors announced that Lopes will be departing the club at the end of 2023 following the expiry of his contract,[19] rounding up a successful three-year spell in which he won every major trophy in Singapore football, while accumulating 31 goals and 32 assists in 85 matches across all competitions for the club.[citation needed]

Qingdao Hainiu

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On 12 February 2024, Lopes joined Chinese Super League club Qingdao Hainiu.[20] He make his debut for the club in a 2–0 lost against Chengdu Rongcheng on 2 March 2024.

Career statistics

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As of 2 Nov 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Rio Ave (loan) 2012–13 Primeira Liga 21 0 1 0 4 1 — 26 1
Rio Ave 2013–14 Primeira Liga 27 0 6 0 5 0 — 38 0
2014–15 32 5 7 2 2 0 8[a] 2 49 9
Total 59 5 13 2 7 0 8 2 87 9
Benfica 2015–16 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kayserispor (loan) 2015–16 Süper Lig 22 0 7 3 — — 29 3
América Mineiro (loan) 2016 Série A 5 0 0 0 — — 5 0
Panetolikos (loan) 2016–17 Superleague 14 0 1 0 — — 15 0
2017–18 8 1 0 0 — — 8 1
Total 22 1 1 0 — 0 0 23 1
Rio Ave 2017–18 Primeira Liga 12 2 — — — 12 2
2018–19 19 2 2 0 2 1 0 0 23 3
2019–20 30 6 2 0 3 1 0 0 35 7
2020–21 11 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 15 2
Total 72 11 6 1 5 2 2 0 85 14
Lion City Sailors 2021 Singapore Premier League 19 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 6
2022 25 10 2 0 1 0 6 1 34 11
2023 23 8 2 4 0 0 2 1 27 13
Total 67 24 4 4 1 0 8 2 80 30
Qingdao Hainiu 2024 Chinese Super League 24 3 0 0 — — 24 3
Career total 292 44 32 10 17 3 18 4 359 61
  1. ^ Appearances in the Europa League

Honours

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Club

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Rio Ave

Lion City Sailors

Individual

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References

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  1. ^ "Diego Lopes: "Aimar é um ídolo, tenho a camisola dele"" [Diego Lopes: "Aimar is my idol, I have his shirt"]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 3 December 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Diego, o diamante de Rui Costa virou ameaça vilacondense" [Diego, Rui Costa's diamond, that turned threat]. Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 30 November 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Ex-benfiquista Diego Lopes no Rio Ave" [Diego Lopes loaned to Rio Ave]. Record. 10 June 2012. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. ^ "Rio Ave 0-0 Académica". Zerozero. 2 September 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  5. ^ "Freamunde 2-3 Rio Ave". Zerozero. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Roderick assinou por 5 épocas" [Roderick signed for five seasons]. Rioave-fc.pt. 3 August 2013. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  7. ^ "Diego Lopes sob avaliação" [Diego Lopes under consideration]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 2 May 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
  8. ^ Ruela, João (27 June 2015). "Conheça os 10 novos reforços do Benfica" [Meet the 10 new Benfica players] (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. Retrieved 28 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Ederson, Diego Lopes e Hassan já assinaram" [Ederson, Diego Lopes and Hassan have already signed with Benfica]. Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 26 May 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Derley e Diego Lopes confirmados no Kayserispor" [Derley and Diego Lopes confirmed in Kayserispor]. SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese). 22 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Diego Lopes marcou pelo Kayserispor" [Diego Lopes scored for Kayserispor]. Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). 26 January 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Diego Lopes emprestado pelo Benfica ao América MG" [Diego Lopes loaned by Benfica to América MG]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). 18 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  13. ^ "América apresenta cinco reforços nesta quarta-feira" [América presents five new players this Wednesday]. América Mineiro (in Portuguese). 19 July 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  14. ^ "Diego Lopes de regresso após dispensa do América Mineiro" [Diego Lopes released by América Mineiro]. Record (in Portuguese). 18 October 2016. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  15. ^ "Στην ομάδα μας ο Ντιέγκο Λόπες" [Diego Lopes joins our team]. Panetolikos.gr (in Greek). 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  16. ^ "Λύση συμβολαίου". Panetolikos.gr (in Greek). 13 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Makaridze e Diego Lopes assinam pelo Rio Ave FC" [Makaridze e Diego Lopes sign for Rio Ave FC]. Rio Ave FC (in Portuguese). 16 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  18. ^ Lee, David (20 January 2021). "Football: Lion City Sailors sign Brazil's Diego Lopes for SPL's first multi-million dollar player". The Straits Times. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  19. ^ "Winds of change whistle through Mattar as Sailors eye 2024 trophy charge". Lion City Sailors FC. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  20. ^ "青岛海牛官方：球队签下巴西前腰迭戈-洛佩斯" (in Chinese). dongqiudi. 12 February 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
  21. ^ "D. Lopes". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
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