ALEX TELLES JOINS ON LOAN

Sevilla FC and Manchester United FC have reached an agreement for the season-long loan of Alex Telles.

The left-back joined the Red Devils in October 2020 and has made a half-century of appearances for the club, scoring a solitary goal, a volley from outside the area in a UEFA Champions League match against Villarreal. 

The 29-year-old made his professional debut back in January 2011, as he made his debut for hometown club Juventude, from Caxias do Sul in the state of Riogrande do Sul. He had been in the club’s academy for four years. After scoring two goals in thirty matches, he made the move from the Brazilian Série D to Série A as he joined Grêmio in 2013. 

His performances at the Imortal Tricolor attracted attention from European clubs, and after 51 appearances in 2013 he was bought by Galatasaray in January 2014 for €6 million. 

His 18 months in Istanbul were fruitful, picking up four winners’ medals: the 2014/15 Süper Lig, the Turkish Cup in 2014 and 2015, and the Turkish Super Cup in 2015. He also made his UEFA Champions League debut against Chelsea FC, on just his fifth outing for the club. 

Telles’ stock was rising, and he made a loan move to not only one of Europe’s top five leagues, but also to a European giant in the form of Inter as he followed Roberto Mancini from Istanbul to Italy. He made 22 appearances in his season-long loan in the 2015/16 season. 

However, his next transfer was the move that really put the Brazilian left-back on the map. After finishing his loan spell in Italy, he joined FC Porto ahead of the 2016/17 campaign on a five-year deal for €6.5 million. He instantly consolidated himself as the club’s starting left-back, making 192 appearances in his four full seasons at the club, and a further three at the start of his fifth season, just before moving to Manchester.

Telles won four trophies at both Galatasaray and Porto 

His number of goal contributions at the Portuguese club was particularly impressive. In his four seasons, he always set up at least 10 goals, and even reached 20 assists in just 45 appearances in his second season. He also scored 26 goals, sixteen of them penalties, for the Dragões, including twelve in a prolific goalscoring campaign in 2019/20. 

Just like he did in Istanbul, he picked up another four winners' medal at Porto, with Primeira Liga titles in 2017/18 and 2019/20, a Taça de Portugal in 2020 and a Supertaça de Portugal in 2018.

As for notable goals, the Brazilian scored three free kicks, and scored two goals in the UEFA Champions League: a long-range effort in a 4-1 Group Stage win over AS Monaco, and scored a pressure penalty in the 117th minute against AS Roma to send his team into the last eight in the 2018/19 season. He also scored a penalty in O Clássico against SL Benfica. 

His international debut came during his time in Portugal, as he started in Brazil’s friendly against Panama on 23rd March 2019. He has since been capped on a further five occasions. 

Manchester United then came calling, and brought him to Old Trafford in October 2020 to compete for the left-back spot with England international Luke Shaw. He made his debut a few weeks later against PSG in the UEFA Champions League. 

Premier League appearances in his first season were hard to come by, as Telles featured on just nine occasions, but he made 24 appearances in all competitions. He was a 123rd minute substitute in the Red Devils’ UEFA Europa League final defeat to Villarreal in Gdansk – he was brought on just before the penalty shoot-out, in which he converted the second penalty. 

His only goal for the Mancunians came early last season, a volley from outside the box to equalise against Villarreal in the UCL Group Stage. He increased his number of matches by two to 26 in all competitions, but this time round 21 of those came in the Premier League. In his 50 matches in total for United, he provided eight assists. 

He will now make the move to LaLiga for one season, and by joining Sevilla he will link up with former FC Porto teammates Óliver Torres and Tecatito. However, unlike those two players, Telles did not coincide with Julen Lopetegui at the club, as the Brazilian joined a few months after the coach’s departure.