José Gomes

José Gomes (born 8 April 1999), known as Zé Gomes, is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for AF Elbasani. Born in Guinea-Bissau, he represented Portugal at youth level.

Club career Born in Bissau, Gomes, after participating in a 2011 youth tournament in Portugal, returned to the country a year later to join Benfica's youth academy at the age of 13.

Gomes made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 2016–17 LigaPro match against Cova da Piedade on 6 August 2016. 22 days later, he scored his first goal for the reserve team in a 2–1 away win at Vizela. He debuted for the first-team, playing only 128 seconds, in a 2–1 win at Arouca in Primeira Liga on 9 September, becoming Benfica's third youngest player to debut for the main team.

Gomes was loaned to fellow top-flight team Portimonense for 2019–20. Having made only one substitute appearance against Gil Vicente, he headed to Lechia Gdańsk of the Polish Ekstraklasa in February 2020, for the rest of the season. He managed only one goal during his time on the Baltic Sea coast, in a 3–2 loss away to Lech Poznań on 12 July.

On 15 February, Gomes moved to Bulgaria, signing with Cherno More.

On 4 February 2022, Gomes signed with Italian Serie C club Seregno

In January 2023, Gomes joined rivals Universitate Cluj on loan until the end of the season with the option to purchase.

On 22 June 2023, Gomes signed a one-year contract with recently-promoted to Cypriot First Division club Ethnikos Achna.

International career At the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, Gomes was crowned both Golden Player and top scorer.

Club statistics

Honours Benfica Primeira Liga: 2016–17 Taça de Portugal: 2016–17

Lechia Gdańsk Polish Cup runner-up: 2019–20

Universitatea Cluj Cupa României runner-up: 2022–23

Portugal U17 UEFA European Under-17 Championship: 2016

Portugal U19 UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2018 Individual 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Top goalscorer (7 goals) 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship - Golden Player Award