Adrien Silva

Adrien Sébastien Perruchet da Silva (born 15 March 1989), known as Adrien Silva, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Al Wahda and the Portugal national team, as a central midfielder.

He played mostly for Sporting since making his first-team debut at the age of 18, and was loaned to Maccabi Haifa and Académica, winning the Taça de Portugal with the latter in addition to the same honour at Sporting. Known for his dribbling and passing qualities he was described by Paulo Bento, who managed him at the latter, as a "complete midfielder" who "wets his jersey in every game he plays".

Silva gained 46 caps for Portugal all youth categories comprised, including 13 for the under-21 team. He made his senior international debut in 2014.

Club career Early years Silva was born in Angoulême, Poitou-Charentes, France, to a Portuguese father and a French mother. He began his football career at the age of five playing for FC Girondins de Bordeaux but, after six years at the club, his father, who worked in aeronautics, returned to Portugal and the family settled in Arcos de Valdevez, and he spent two seasons with local Associação Recreativa e Cultural de Paçô.

Silva's performances led to interest from the Big Three in Portugal, Sporting Clube de Portugal, F.C. Porto and S.L. Benfica, and he ultimately chose to join the second, as his former club eventually came to host a tournament in his honour called Torneio A.R.C.Paçô–Adrien Silva (English: A.R.C.Paçô–Adrien Silva Tournament), held every June.