Ricardo Carvalho

Ricardo Alberto Silveira de Carvalho (born 18 May 1978) is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Carvalho began his career at Porto, where he had loan spells at Leça, Vitória de Setúbal and Alverca, before winning domestic and European trophies under José Mourinho's management.

Ricardo Carvalho was brought to the Porto junior team in the 1996–97 season.

In the oncoming season, Carvalho made his professional debut when he signed on loan for Leça.

Between 1999 and 2001, he had loan spells at Vitória de Setúbal and Alverca.

He returned to Porto in the 2001–02 season, being third choice behind Jorge Costa and Jorge Andrade, but he quickly won a place in the starting XI, forming a terrific partnership with Andrade in the centre of defence, which brought disappointment to captain Jorge Costa who, in April 2002, joined Charlton Athletic on a five-month loan spell.

Carvalho made 25 appearances in the Portuguese league that season.

In the following season, Jorge Costa returned to Porto and Jorge Andrade moved to Deportivo de La Coruña in Spain.

With José Mourinho in charge, Carvalho started the campaign as the third option behind Costa and Pedro Emanuel, but later, his excellent form led him to a place in the first team, appearing in the most important games of the season, including the UEFA cup semi-finals matches against Lazio and the UEFA Cup final where Porto beat Celtic 3–2 in extra time.

It was Carvalho's first international trophy.

By his great season, he was named Portuguese League Footballer of the Year and Porto Footballer of the Year.

In international football, Carvalho's national team career began on 11 October 2003 in a friendly match against Albania.

It was in the 2003–04 season that Carvalho made his name as a world-class footballer.

His solid performances helped the club win the Portuguese league title for the second year in a row, and the most prestigious club trophy in European football, the UEFA Champions League.

In this tournament, Carvalho played in all of Porto's matches, including the 3–0 win against Monaco in the final.

In July 2004, Carvalho transferred to Chelsea for a fee of just under €30 million.

With the Blues, he won two Premier League titles in a row and one League Cup, in his first two seasons.

He was a regular in Portugal's lineup during Euro 2004, when his country advanced all the way to the final before losing to Greece.

Subsequently, his great performances merited the UEFA Club Best Defender of the Year award, voted into the UEFA Team of the Year, and was named one of the 50 players shortlisted for the 2004 Ballon d'Or), finishing ninth in the voting, being the only defender in top ten. He was selected for the Portuguese UEFA Euro 2004 squad, in which tournament he was also nominated for the UEFA Euro Team of the Tournament. At the end of the season, Carvalho has been tracked by a host of top European clubs, including Internazionale, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United. Real Madrid offered €8.2 (£7) million for Carvalho, but Porto warned the Spaniards they would not accept anything less than €23.5 (£20) million for the defender after the Spanish team made a much lower offer.

Days later, English club Chelsea offered €30 (£25.5) million for the centre back, which the Portuguese team accepted.

At Stamford Bridge, Carvalho, who was considered one of the best centre-backs at Euro 2004, joined his former manager José Mourinho and former teammate Paulo Ferreira on a three-year contract.

He signed for a fee of €30 million (£20 million at the time) and performed extremely well in his first season with Chelsea, helping them win the Premier League title, their first top-flight domestic title in 50 years, and the League Cup.

He scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 3–1 victory over Norwich City.

His partnership with captain John Terry in central defence was hailed as a major factor behind Chelsea's two Premier League titles in a row.

The start of 2005–06 season was not as smooth for him, as he was publicly lambasted by Mourinho after making comments about his selection policy.

Carvalho said the Chelsea manager's decision to drop him for the first game of the season was "incomprehensible", but Mourinho responded, "Carvalho seems to have problems understanding things, maybe he should have an IQ test," and then left him out for next game, against Arsenal, and fined him a reported £85,000.

He later returned to favour, though, and was a near-regular in the side from September.

On 19 October 2005, he scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 home win against Real Betis in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Carvalho continued his scoring run in Europe by netting his second goal of the season in Chelsea's 2–0 away victory over Anderlecht on 23 November.

In January, in a 1–1 Premier League draw against Charlton Athletic, Carvalho received the first red card of his Chelsea career, after he received his second yellow for what the referee judged to be a tackle from behind on Charlton striker Darren Bent.

At the 2006 World Cup, he played in six matches for Portugal, who finished fourth after reaching the semi-finals.

Later, on 29 April 2006, he scored again a goal, his third of the season, in a 3–0 Premier League victory over Manchester United, finishing off a move he had started on the edge of his own penalty area by smashing the ball into the net, to help Chelsea clinch the title for the second consecutive year.

In the 2006–07 season, Carvalho scored again against Manchester United an important goal in a 1–1 draw – a header from a Frank Lampard corner that also bounced off Louis Saha's head.

On 7 April, he scored another goal against Tottenham Hotspur, firing a low, 30-yard drive past the reach of Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson; as a result Chelsea narrowed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to three points.

Just 21 days later, on 28 April, Carvalho injured the medial ligaments of his right leg in a Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers.

The injury meant Carvalho missed the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool.

In 2008, he was voted the team's Players' Player of the Year.

Two years later, he helped Chelsea win the league and FA Cup, the first Double in the club's history.

In August 2010, after six years with Chelsea, he transferred to Real Madrid for a fee of £6.7 million, winning two domestic honours under Mourinho's management before a free transfer to Monaco in 2013.

He represented Portugal in three UEFA European Championships and two FIFA World Cups, and was a member of the team that won UEFA Euro 2016.