Miguel Luís Pinto Veloso is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Italian club Hellas Verona. Mainly a defensive midfielder, he can also operate as an attacking left back. He started his career with Sporting, for which he appeared in 165 games all competitions comprised, and also spent two years with Genoa before joining Dynamo Kyiv in 2012. After winning four domestic honours in Ukraine, he returned to Genoa in 2016. A full international since 2007, Veloso earned over 50 caps for Portugal, appearing at two World Cups and as many European Championships.
Club career
Born in Coimbra, Miguel Veloso started his football career at S.L. Benfica, but was rejected for being slightly overweight at the time, entering Lisbon neighbours Sporting CP's youth system at the age of 14. There, he was promoted to the first team for the 2004–05 pre-season, which took place mainly in England; he started out as a central defender. In order to give him more playing time, Sporting loaned Veloso to C.D. Olivais e Moscavide in the third division, and he helped them promote to the second level with a career-best seven goals. As a result, he was recalled by the Lions – though it appeared difficult for him to grab a place in the starting team, because of the presence of players with much more experience such as Ânderson Polga, Tonel, Marco Caneira or Custódio – and ended up playing 23 Primeira Liga matches during the campaign as his team finished second. He was equally impressive in his debut in the UEFA Champions League, a 1–0 home win against Inter Milan where he stopped Patrick Vieira and Luís Figo from playing effectively, earning Man of the match accolades in the process. In 2007–08, Veloso was ever-present in Sporting's central midfield, alongside fellow youth graduate João Moutinho. The club again lost the league to FC Porto, and the same befell in the following season, with the player being involved in some run-ins with manager Paulo Bento; in the previous off-season and following January transfer window, he attracted interest from several Premier League sides, but nothing materialized. Veloso helped Sporting reach the last-16 in the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, after scoring in both legs of the 4–2 aggregate win against Everton; the club could only, however, finish fourth in the domestic league. On 30 July 2010, Veloso was sold to Genoa C.F.C. in Italy. On 4 July 2012 he moved teams and countries again, signing a four-year contract with FC Dynamo Kyiv in the Ukrainian Premier League. On 31 July 2016, after 127 games across all competitions and four major titles, including the double in the 2014–15 campaign, 30-year-old Veloso returned to Genoa. He left the Stadio Luigi Ferraris two years later, but returned shortly after agreeing to a new deal. On 20 July 2019, Veloso signed a one-year contract with Hellas Verona FC. He scored a free kick on his debut on 25 August, equalising in a 1–1 home draw with Bologna F.C. 1909.
Veloso's father, António, was also a footballer. A defender, he played several years with Benfica, and was also a longtime Portuguese international. In 2013, Veloso married the daughter of Genoa club president Enrico Preziosi, Paola.
