Henrique Araújo

Henrique Pereira Araújo (; born 19 January 2002) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Primeira Liga club Benfica.

Club career Early career Born in Funchal, the capital of the Portuguese island of Madeira, Araújo started his football career in the youth ranks of local side Andorinha in 2008, and later moved to Marítimo's in 2011. In 2018, aged 16, he went on a week trial with Benfica, who signed him and he subsequently moved from Madeira to Seixal, near Lisbon, to join Benfica's youth academy, despite also having trained with rivals Porto, who declined signing him.

Benfica 2020–22: Rise to the first team and UEFA Youth League On 5 March 2019, Araújo signed his first professional contract with Benfica B. Araújo made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 1–0 LigaPro loss to Estoril on 4 October 2020. Following a prolific goalscoring form for the B team, to which he scored ten goals and provided three assist, Araújo was promoted to Benfica's first team by interim manager Nélson Veríssimo, making his debut on 2 February 2022, in a 2–1 home loss to Gil Vicente in the Primeira Liga.

He scored his first goal for the club on 11 March in a 1–1 home draw to Vizela. During that season, Araújo played in the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League, scoring a hat-trick in the final on 25 April, in a 6–0 win over Red Bull Salzburg to help Benfica win their first Youth League title, and their first title in European football since the 1961–62 European Cup. On 5 September, he agreed to a contract extension to 2027, increasing his buyout clause to €100 million.

On 2 November, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 6–1 away win against Maccabi Haifa in their last 2022–23 UEFA Champions League group stage match, to ensure Benfica's qualification to the round of sixteen, as group winners.

2023: Loan to Watford After making 14 appearances, finding limited first-team minutes, during Benfica's opening half of the season, on 23 January 2023, Araújo joined English Championship club Watford on loan until the rest of the season, in order to continue his development.

2023–24: Loan to Famalicão On 18 July 2023, Primeira Liga club Famalicão announced the signing of Araújo on a season-long loan from Benfica.

International career Araújo represented Portugal at under-17 and under-19, for a total of 7 caps, scoring four goals.

Career statistics Club

Honours Benfica Youth UEFA Youth League: 2021–22

Benfica Primeira Liga: 2022–23 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2025

Individual Liga Portugal 2 Young Player of the Year: 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2 Forward of the Month: February 2021 SJPF Segunda Liga Young Player of the Month: February 2021