Nuno Santos

Rio Ave On 16 June 2017, Santos signed a five-year contract with Rio Ave also of the top tier. Almost exclusively a substitute in his first season, he scored once for his first goal in the league on 17 September, at the end of a 1–2 home defeat to eventual champions FC Porto.

Santos suffered more problems with his left knee in July 2018, and did not return to the pitch until the following March. On 17 June 2020, he was one of three players in his team to be sent off in a 2–1 home loss to Benfica – for a high foot on Pizzi – and was subjected to social media abuse by his club's fans.

Sporting CP On 21 August 2020, Santos joined Sporting CP on a five-year deal for €4 million plus shares in the economic rights of Gelson Dala (50%) and Francisco Geraldes (75%), and a buyout clause of €60 million. He scored eight competitive goals in his first season for the champions, seven in the league.

As Sporting often operated on a 3–5–2 formation under Ruben Amorim, Santos was deployed as a left wing-back on several occasions. He contributed four goals in 2,073 minutes in 2023–24 to another league title, but missed the vast majority of the following campaign after rupturing the tendon of his right knee; in November 2024, he was handed an eight-match suspension for smashing a glass protection while in the stands – he was not part of the squad due to injury – and injuring two spectators (one of them seriously) during the 4–3 loss against Porto in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in August but, controversially, the ban was to be served while he recovered.

Santos returned to action on 1 February 2026, playing 26 minutes for Sporting's reserves in the 2–0 second-division home win over Oliveirense. His first appearance for the main squad since his injury took place four days later, as he replaced Francisco Trincão late into the second half in a 3–2 extra-time victory against AVS Futebol SAD in the quarter-finals of the Taça de Portugal.

International career Santos was part of the Portugal squad at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, scoring an early goal against Senegal (3–0) and a late one against Colombia (3–1 win) in the group stage, in an eventual quarter-final exit in New Zealand. He won the first of his two caps for the under-21 side on 12 November of that year, replacing Rony Lopes midway through the second half of the 4–0 victory over Albania for the 2017 UEFA European Championship qualifiers held in Arouca.

In October 2022, Santos was named in a preliminary 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Career statistics

Honours Benfica Youth UEFA Youth League runner-up: 2013–14

Benfica Primeira Liga: 2015–16 2024–25 Taça de Portugal: 2024–25 Taça da Liga: 2020–21, 2021–22 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2021

Individual Primeira Liga Goal of the Month: March 2023