Ivo Pinto

Cluj Pinto spent the next few years in eastern Europe, first with CFR Cluj in Romania. His first competitive match took place on 14 July 2012, as he featured the full 120 minutes in a penalty shootout loss to FC Dinamo București for the Supercupa României (2–2 in regulation time). His debut in Liga I occurred seven days later, and he again started in a 1–1 home draw against CS Gaz Metan Mediaș.

Pinto made his debut in the UEFA Champions League on 1 August 2012, playing the entirety of the 1–0 win over FC Slovan Liberec. He appeared in every group stage game, with the team finishing third and moving to the UEFA Europa League.

Pinto's maiden appearance in the Prva HNL occurred on 12 July 2013, in a 3–1 victory against NK Osijek where he replaced Jerko Leko at half-time. During his two-and-a-half-year tenure, he played 112 matches across all competitions and won the national championship three times.

Norwich City

Pinto joined English club Norwich City on 8 January 2016, for a reported fee of £2.2 million. He made his Premier League debut 15 days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 4–5 home loss to Liverpool.

Pinto scored the first goal of his career on 24 September 2016, in a 3–1 win over Burton Albion also at Carrow Road. They returned to the English top flight at the end of the 2018–19 campaign, but he contributed only three appearances to this feat (five overall).

In May 2019, Pinto announced he would be leaving Norwich as a free agent on 30 June. During his spell, he took part in 94 official matches.

Return to Dinamo Pinto returned to Dinamo Zagreb on 10 May 2019, signing a three-year contract. In the following transfer window, he was loaned to newly promoted F.C. Famalicão until the end of the Portuguese top-tier season.

On 29 August 2020, still owned by the Croatian club, Pinto returned to Rio Ave.

Fortuna Sittard

In August 2021, in a similar move, Pinto joined Fortuna Sittard. He made his Eredivisie debut on 12 September, as a 46th-minute replacement for Roel Janssen in the 3–1 loss to Sparta Rotterdam. He made his first start 13 days later in a 1–1 away draw against SBV Vitesse, playing 89 minutes before being subbed off for Nigel Lonwijk. He totalled 24 appearances for the campaign, including two in the KNVB Cup.

On 18 May 2022, Pinto signed a permanent one-year contract with an option to extend another year.

International career Pinto earned 34 caps for Portugal at youth level, including six for the under-21s. He was named in Fernando Santos' first squad as manager of the full side in October 2014, ahead of a friendly with France and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Denmark.

Style of play Upon his arrival at Norwich City, manager Alex Neil described Pinto as a "good and athletic" defender. The player viewed himself as an intense and fast full-back, whilst his boss at Dinamo Zagreb Krunoslav Jurčić stated that he liked to attack in addition to being "solid defensively".

Career statistics

Honours CFR Cluj Cupa României runner-up: 2012–13

Dinamo Zagreb Croatian First Football League: 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2019–20 Croatian Football Cup: 2014–15