Emerson Royal

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 right-back or centre-back for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and the Brazil national team.

Early life Emerson was born in São Paulo and was raised in Americana. He got his nickname "Royal" as his uncle said he resembled the mascot of the Royal-branded gelatin dessert sold in Brazil.

Club career Ponte Preta Emerson joined Ponte Preta's youth setup in 2014, after notably representing Palmeiras, São Paulo and Grêmio. 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.

Atlético Mineiro

On 27 April 2018, Emerson signed a five-year deal with Atlético Mineiro, for a rumoured fee of R$5 million. As a part of the deal, Danilo Barcelos moved in the opposite direction on loan.

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. 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.

Real Betis and Barcelona On 31 January 2019, Atlético announced the transfer of Emerson to Barcelona, effective as of July 2019, for €12.7 million. 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. 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. 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.

Tottenham Hotspur 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. His debut was in the Premier League away to Crystal Palace which Tottenham lost 3–0 on 11 September. On 3 April 2022, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in a 5–1 home win against Newcastle United. 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. On 28 March 2023, the club announced he would undergo surgery on a knee injury he sustained on international duty with Brazil. 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. On 22 January 2024, it was reported that Tottenham Hotspur had rejected a £20 million bid from Saudi club Al-Nassr for Emerson. Emerson came off the bench to make his debut in the 2–1 away defeat to Parma.

Flamengo On 26 July 2025, Emerson joined Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and signed a three year contract with the club.

International career Emerson was called up to the Brazil under-20 team for the 2017 Toulon Tournament. 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.

On 11 June 2021, Emerson was called up by manager Tite for the 2021 Copa América. 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.

Career statistics Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

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2016

2017

2018 Série B

Atlético Mineiro 2018 Série A

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

Barcelona 2021–22 La Liga

2021–22

2022–23

2023–24

AC Milan 2024–25 Serie A

2025

2026

Honours AC Milan Supercoppa Italiana: 2024–25

Flamengo FIFA Challenger Cup: 2025 FIFA Derby of the Americas: 2025 Copa Libertadores: 2025 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2025 Campeonato Carioca: 2026

Brazil U23 Toulon Tournament: 2019

Brazil Copa América runner-up: 2021

Individual Toulon Tournament Best XI: 2019