Gonçalo Brandão


Gonçalo Jardim Brandão is a Portuguese footballer who plays for FC Porto B. Mainly a central defender, he can also appear as a left back.

Club career

Belenenses

A product of hometown C.F. Os Belenenses' youth system, Brandão scored in his second match in the Primeira Liga aged 17, against FC Porto in a 1–4 home loss on 18 October 2003 when he still had not finished his youth career. He only managed another seven first-team appearances in the next three seasons combined, with a loan to Charlton Athletic in 2005–06 in between.
Brandão played his first league match after his Belenenses return on 4 February 2007, in a 1–0 away win over Vitória F.C. where he started.

Siena

In June 2008, it was announced Brandão had signed a four-year contract with Serie A's A.C. Siena. After a shaky start – he only made his league debut on 20 December in a 1–2 home defeat against Inter Milan– he finished his first season as an undisputed starter.
After the end of the 2009–10 campaign, Brandão was loaned to Juventus F.C. for the United States tour along with Albin Ekdal and three other players.

Parma

On 22 June 2011, after contributing with only two games to Siena's top flight return, Brandão signed for Parma F.C. on loan. In the following summer, the clubs were involved in a player-only transaction which saw Parma sign Brandão, Alessandro Iacobucci, Giuseppe Pacini and Andrea Rossi, while Siena acquired Manuel Coppola, Paolo Hernán Dellafiore, Abdou Doumbia and Alberto Galuppo – both organizations also retained 50% registration rights on their players.
On 7 July 2012, Brandão left for Serie B club A.C. Cesena and Marco Parolo moved to Parma in a temporary deal for €1 million, with the latter side also being responsible of €1.8 million in wages. In the ensuing off-season, still owned by both Parma and Siena, he signed for Romanian club CFR Cluj along with Denilson Gabionetta.

Belenenses return

On 6 January 2014, Brandão returned to Portugal and Belenenses in a temporary deal. On 20 June he was sold back to Siena, with Galuppo returning to Parma. However, the Italians declared their liquidation on 15 July as the club did not meet the financial requirements for the upcoming season, and the player re-joined Belenenses as a free agent.

International career

After having represented Portugal at all the youth levels, including the under-21s, Brandão made his full side debut on 31 March 2009, appearing as a left back in a 2–0 friendly win over South Africa in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Club statistics