Silvestre Manuel Gonçalves Varela is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Belenenses SAD as a winger. He represented mainly Porto during his career, amassing Primeira Liga totals of 237 matches and 47 goals over 11 seasons and winning 11 major titles, including three national championships and the 2011 Europa League. He also competed professionally in Spain, England, Italy and Turkey. Varela appeared for Portugal at Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup, scoring in both tournaments.
Club career
Sporting
A product of Sporting CP's youth system, Varela was born in Almada, Setúbal District, being loaned to Casa Pia A.C. and Vitória F.C. in his early years as a professional. Despite being a regular with the Portuguese under-21s and having enjoyed a decent form in various tournaments, he was not able to secure a place in the Lions' first team, only managing two substitute appearances in the 2005–06 season. In 2007–08, Varela, alongside former Sporting players Beto and Carlos Martins, played for Recreativo de Huelva in Spain. After a disappointing campaign despite having received playing time in La Liga, he returned to Sporting in July 2008 only to be immediately sold to C.F. Estrela da Amadora.
Porto
Before the season was over, in March 2009, courtesy of his solid performances at Estrela, only relegated from the Primeira Liga off the field, Varela signed a five-year agreement with champions FC Porto on a free transfer, starting in July. In his first year he ranked second in overall goals in the squad, only behind Radamel Falcao; in March 2010, however, he broke his fibula in training, being lost for the remainder of the campaign as the team finished third. In 2011–12, under new manager Vítor Pereira, Varela – as practically all Portuguese players – lost his importance in the side. On 16 February 2012, in a rare start, he put Porto ahead against Manchester City in the season's UEFA Europa Leagueround-of-32, in an eventual 1–2 home loss. On 24 August 2014, Varela signed with Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on a season-long loan deal. Having arrived whilst still recovering from injury, he made his official debut on 2 December, replacing Craig Gardner midway through the second half of a 1–2 home defeat to West Ham United; he scored his first goal for the Baggies on the 20th, but in a 2–3 loss at Queens Park Rangers. On 20 January 2015, still owned by Porto, Varela joined struggling Serie A team Parma F.C. until June.
Having made only seven appearances for Porto during the season, Varela, who was by then the club's longest serving player, ended his seven-and-a-half-year link on 20 January 2017 by signing for Turkey's Kayserispor. He and fellow veteran Asamoah Gyan were told at the end of their contracts in June 2018 that they would only be retained if they signed performance-based deals, due to their injury record.
Belenenses
On 8 October 2019, having been a free agent, Varela returned to his country's top-flight by signing for Belenenses SAD until the end of the season.
