João Morelli

Loan to FCI Levadia On 20 February 2017, Morelli signed a one-year contract extension with Middlesbrough before going on a year-long loan to Estonian Meistriliiga side FCI Levadia Tallinn. In 22 league appearances that season, he scored sixteen goals, tying for fifth in league scoring. Morelli also played 90 minutes in both legs of Levadia's Europa League first qualifying round series against Irish club Cork City. Shortly after he signed for the club, manager Uwe Rösler was sacked and replaced by Joey Barton, under whom Morelli later recounted feeling "lost" after a drastic change of tactics and position. He made 29 league appearances that season, scoring eleven goals. He made his debut for the Wanderers on August 15 against Pacific FC, and converted a penalty in an eventual 2–2 draw. After a very strong 2021 season, Morelli was the Golden Boot winner in the CPL, netting 14 goals in 21 games and was nominated for the CPL Player of the Year award on December 5, 2021. On December 12, the Wanderers announced Morelli had signed a contract extension through 2023. Two days later, on December 14, at the CPL awards ceremony, Morelli was named the 2021 CPL Player of the Year.

During the Wanderers' second game of the 2022 season against Atlético Ottawa on April 16, Morelli suffered an ACL injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.

In July 2023, Morelli was officially cleared to play again, as the club signed him to a new contract extension, adding a club option for 2024. On July 31, he scored his first goal since returning from injury in a 2–0 league victory over York United. He went on to score four goals in nine appearances for Halifax, before missing out on the final games of the regular season, as well as the play-offs, due to a new injury.

On November 3, 2023, Morelli officially announced his retirement from football, citing his will to take care of his family as the main reason behind his choice. At the time of his retirement, the forward was the all-time leading scorer for the Wanderers, having scored 24 goals in 43 games for the club,

Career statistics

Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals Middlesbrough U21 2016–17 –

FCI Levadia (loan) 2017 Meistriliiga

Fleetwood Town 2017–18 EFL League One

Ituano 2018 Campeonato Paulista

FCI Levadia 2019 Meistriliiga

2020

2021

2022

2023

40!!23!!2!!1!!0!!0!!1!!0!!43!!24

91!!50!!3!!2!!4!!0!!14!!2!!112!!54

Honours HFX Wanderers Canadian Premier League Runners-up: 2020

Individual Meistriliiga Goal of the Month: October 2017 Canadian Premier League Golden Boot: 2021 Canadian Premier League Player of the Year: 2021