| Emerson Royal | |
| Full Name: | Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior[1] |
| Birth Date: | 14 January 1999[2] |
| Birth Place: | São Paulo, Brazil |
| Height: | 1.81 m[3] |
| Currentclub: | AC Milan |
| Clubnumber: | 22 |
| Youthclubs1: | Condor |
| Youthclubs2: | Unidos da Cordenonsi |
| Youthclubs3: | Guanabara |
| Youthclubs4: | Palmeiras |
| Youthclubs5: | Grêmio |
| Youthclubs6: | São Paulo |
| Youthyears7: | 2014–2016 |
| Youthclubs7: | Ponte Preta |
| Years1: | 2016–2018 |
| Clubs1: | Ponte Preta |
| Caps1: | 19 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Years2: | 2018–2019 |
| Clubs2: | Atlético Mineiro |
| Caps2: | 23 |
| Goals2: | 1 |
| Years3: | 2019 |
| Clubs3: | → Betis (loan) |
| Caps3: | 6 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2019–2021 |
| Clubs4: | Barcelona |
| Caps4: | 3 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 2019–2021 |
| Clubs5: | → Betis (loan) |
| Caps5: | 67 |
| Goals5: | 4 |
| Years6: | 2021–2024 |
| Clubs6: | Tottenham Hotspur |
| Caps6: | 79 |
| Goals6: | 4 |
| Years7: | 2024– |
| Clubs7: | AC Milan |
| Caps7: | 0 |
| Goals7: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2017–2019 |
| Nationalteam1: | Brazil U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 11 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2019–2020 |
| Nationalteam2: | Brazil U23 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 10 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2019– |
| Nationalteam3: | Brazil |
| Nationalcaps3: | 10 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 23:33, 19 May 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 22 November 2023 |
Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior (born 14 January 1999), known as Emerson Royal or simply Emerson, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club AC Milan and the Brazil national team. Mainly a right-back, he can be deployed as centre-back and full-back position.
Emerson was born in São Paulo and was raised in Americana.[4] He got his nickname "Royal" as his uncle said he resembled the mascot of the Royal-branded gelatin dessert sold in Brazil.[5]
Emerson joined Ponte Preta's youth setup in 2014, after notably representing Palmeiras, São Paulo and Grêmio.[6] [4] After appearing as an unused substitute in some matches of the 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, he made his senior debut on 22 February 2017, replacing injured Artur in a 2–2 Campeonato Paulista away draw against Linense. Despite being booked and conceding a penalty, he was given his first start three days later, in a 1–0 home defeat of São Bernardo.
Emerson made his Série A debut on 5 November 2017, replacing injured John Kleber in a 2–0 loss at Bahia. He contributed with three league appearances during the campaign, as his side suffered relegation.
Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2018 season,[7] Emerson became a regular starter for Macaca, making 14 appearances in the 2018 Campeonato Paulista. On 2 April 2018, he scored his first professional goal, the winning one in the Campeonato Paulista do Interior final against Mirassol.[8]
On 27 April 2018, Emerson signed a five-year deal with Atlético Mineiro,[9] for a rumoured fee of R$5 million. As a part of the deal, Danilo Barcelos moved in the opposite direction on loan.[10]
Emerson made his debut for the club on 19 May 2018, shortly after turning 19, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win over rivals Cruzeiro.[11] Initially a backup to Patric, he ended the year with 23 league appearances. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 30 September, netting his team's third in a 5–2 home routing of Sport.
On 31 January 2019, Atlético announced the transfer of Emerson to Barcelona, effective as of July 2019, for €12.7 million.[12] The deal consisted of a joint financial operation between Barcelona and fellow La Liga side Real Betis, in which each club paid half of the transfer fee and retained a percentage of Emerson's economic rights. He was to become a Betis player in July 2019, with Barcelona holding the option of reacquiring him for €6 million in 2021.[13] Emerson initially joined Betis on loan from Atlético for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, during which period he made seven appearances for the club.[14] He then became a regular starter for the Andalusians, and scored his first goal abroad on 27 September 2019, but in a 1–5 loss to Villarreal. He scored 3 goals and added 6 assists that season in 34 appearances for Betis, only missing 3 La Liga games.
On 2 June 2021, Barcelona exercised their option to bring back Emerson for three seasons by paying Betis €9 million.[15] [16]
On the final day of the 2021 summer transfer window, Tottenham signed Emerson on a five-year deal for a reported £25.8 million transfer fee.[17] His debut was in the Premier League away to Crystal Palace which Tottenham lost 3–0 on 11 September.[18] On 3 April 2022, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in a 5–1 home win against Newcastle United.[19] On October 1, 2022, during the second half of Tottenham's Premier League away game against Arsenal, Royal received a straight red card for his tackle on Gabriel Martinelli. The team went on to lose 3–1 in the North London derby.[20] On 28 March 2023, the club announced he would undergo surgery on a knee injury he sustained on international duty with Brazil.[21] On August 13 2023, Emerson Royal scored a drilled shot from outside the box to secure a 2-2 draw against Brentford on the opening game of the 2023–24 Premier League season. Due to a large amount of injuries at the club, Emerson filled in as a starter at left-back and centre-back as well as his natural right-back position throughout the first half of the season, widely impressing with his displays.[22] On 22 January 2024, it was reported that Tottenham Hotspur had rejected a £20 million bid from Saudi club Al-Nassr for Emerson.
On 12 August 2024, Emerson joined Serie A club AC Milan on a four-year deal.[23]
Emerson was called up to the Brazil under-20 team for the 2017 Toulon Tournament.[24] He was the first-choice right-back at the 2019 South American U-20 Championship and the 2019 Toulon Tournament, having won the latter with Brazil's under-23 side.
Emerson made his senior international debut for Brazil on 19 November 2019, coming off the bench in a 3–0 victory over South Korea.[25]
On 11 June 2021, Emerson was called up by manager Tite for the 2021 Copa América.[26] He made his tournament debut on 17 June, playing the last six minutes in a 4–0 thrashing of Peru in Brazil's second group match. Ten days later, he was given his first start as he played the full match in a 1–1 draw in their final group stage match against Ecuador. On 10 July, he played in the final, after coming on in the 76th minute in their 0–1 defeat against Argentina.[27]
| Season | League | State League | National Cup[28] | League Cup[29] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Ponte Preta | 2016 | Série A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 2[30] | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2018 | Série B | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||||
| Atlético Mineiro | 2018 | Série A | 23 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | 1 | ||||||
| Real Betis (loan) | 2018–19 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1[31] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||||
| 2019–20 | 33 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 34 | 3 | |||||||
| 2020–21 | 34 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 38 | 2 | |||||||
| Total | 73 | 4 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 79 | 5 | ||||||
| Barcelona | 2021–22 | La Liga | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2021–22 | Premier League | 31 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[32] | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | |||
| 2022–23 | 26 | 2 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[33] | 0 | — | 36 | 2 | |||||
| 2023–24 | 22 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 79 | 4 | — | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 101 | 4 | |||||
| AC Milan | 2024–25 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 181 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 17 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 231 | 11 | |||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 2019 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 10 | 0 | ||
Ponte Preta
2018
Brazil U23
Brazil
Individual