Zé Pedro

Biography

José Pedro da Silva Figueiredo Freitas (born 6 June 1997), known as Zé Pedro, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Cagliari. Club career Early career Zé Pedro was born in Guimarães. He started playing football with local Vitória de Guimarães at the age of nine, and finished his youth career at Vizela. Zé Pedro spent his first six seasons as a senior in the Portuguese third division, with Vizela, Torcatense, Fafe, Braga B and Estrela da Amadora. He helped the latter club to promote to the Liga Portugal 2 in 2020–21 by contributing 28 games and five goals, adding a further five appearances at it reached the round of 16 in the Taça de Portugal. Porto On 21 July 2021, Zé Pedro signed a three-year contract with Porto for €250,000 and 80% of his sporting rights, being assigned to the reserve side in the second division. He made his debut as a professional on 7 August in a 2–2 home draw against Trofense, scoring his first league goal the following month to help the hosts defeat Mafra 3–1. Zé Pedro made his competitive debut for the first team on 15 December 2021, playing the entire 1–0 win over Rio Ave in the group stage of the Taça da Liga as they were already eliminated. On 7 August 2023, he extended his link until 2026, and his Primeira Liga bow took place on 29 September in a 1–0 loss at Benfica; habitual starters Iván Marcano and Pepe were injured, and he came on as a 25th-minute substitute for Romário Baró after Fábio Cardoso was sent off. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 9 December, in a 3–1 home victory against Casa Pia.