Will Alves
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Thomas Alves[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 4 May 2005[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Leicester, England | ||
| Height | 1.69 m (5 ft 7 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Left winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Cardiff City (on loan from Leicester City) | ||
| Number | 29 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2022 | Leicester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022– | Leicester City | 1 | (0) |
| 2025– | → Cardiff City (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2022 | England U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2022– | England U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 2024 | England U20 | 3 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 February 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:31, 27 September 2024 (UTC) | |||
William Thomas Alves (born 4 May 2005) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for EFL Championship club Cardiff City, on loan from Leicester City.
Club career
[edit]Alves joined Leicester City at under-9s level and progressed through the Academy before making his senior debut at age 16.[3] On 8 January 2022, Alves made his professional club debut for Leicester as an 86th minute substitute for Ademola Lookman during a 4–1 win against Watford in the third round of the FA Cup.[4]
On 21 December 2022, Alves suffered a torn ACL in the second half of extra time in a 3–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Youth Cup.[5] The injury was caused by a foul from Caden Voice and caused a public outcry. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers called the challenge "one of the worst I have seen".[6][7]
Alves returned to the U21 team on 3 November 2023, scoring in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle that was later abandoned.[8] He followed this by playing the first half in a EFL Trophy match against Fleetwood Town that finished in a 4–0 defeat on 7 November.[9]
In August 2024, Alves signed a new four-year contract for the club.[10] Alves made his Premier League debut as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat to Manchester City on 29 December 2024.[11]
On 3 February 2025, it was announced that Alves had moved on loan to Championship side Cardiff City for the rest of the season.[12] He made his debut on 8 February in a FA Cup match against Stoke City. The match was 3–3 before going to penalties, which Cardiff won 4–2.[13] He made his league debut on 11 February in a 2–1 defeat to Portsmouth.[14]
International career
[edit]Born in England, Alves is of Portuguese descent.[15] In February 2022 he represented the England under-17 team against Scotland.[16]
On 21 September 2022, Alves made his England U18 debut as a substitute during a 1–0 win over Netherlands at the Pinatar Arena.[17]
On 7 June 2024, Alves made a goalscoring debut for the England U20s during a 2-1 win over Sweden at Stadion ŠRC Sesvete.[18]
Personal life
[edit]In 2018, while he was a Year 9 pupil at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Alves won the MOTD "Can You Kick It" competition to find the UK's best young technical freestyle footballer.[19]
Career statistics
[edit]Club
[edit]- As of match played 13 February 2025
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leicester City U21 | 2021–22[20] | — | — | — | — | 3[a] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| 2022–23[21] | — | — | — | — | 3[a] | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| 2023–24[22] | — | — | — | — | 1[a] | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | — | — | — | — | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | ||||||
| Leicester City | 2021–22[20] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022–23[21] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24[22] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2024–25[23] | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Cardiff City (loan) | 2024–25[23] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 1 | ||
- ^ a b c Appearances in EFL Trophy
References
[edit]- ^ "2021/22 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 10 September 2021. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Will Alves". Leicester City FC. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
- ^ LCFC. "Will Alves Signs Long-Term Leicester City Contract". www.lcfc.com. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Blackwell, Jordan (9 January 2022). "'Or you're coming off!' – Brendan Rodgers' warning to Will Alves as big future predicted". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Leicester City confirm Will Alves injury". Leicester Mercury. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
- ^ Ridley, Nathan (24 December 2022). "Brendan Rodgers slams horror tackle on Will Alves - "One of the worst I've seen"". The Mirror. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Reis, Bruna (24 December 2022). "Maddison slams Wolves horror tackle as Leicester City hit with huge injury blow". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ Bruna Reis (3 November 2023). "Leicester City U21 clash with Newcastle abandoned as statement issued". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ^ Bruna Reis (7 November 2023). "Will Alves boost as Leicester City U21s beaten in EFL Trophy". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ^ "Leicester news: Will Alves signs new four-year contract". BBC Sport. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ Boyle, Callum (29 December 2024). "Leicester City stars react as young star Will Alves makes Premier League debut". Leicester City News. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ "Cardiff City Loan For Will Alves". Leicester City. 3 February 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ^ Tom Griffin (8 February 2025). "Cardiff City fans all in agreement about Leicester loanee Will Alves after debut, 'falling in love' claim made". Leicester City News. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ^ "Match Report | Portsmouth 2-1 Cardiff City". Cardiff City. 11 February 2025. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ^ "Will Alves :: William Thomas Alves :: Leicester City". playmakerstats.com.
- ^ "Scotland U17 0–3 England U17". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ "Late winner seals victory for MU18s over Netherlands". England Football. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- ^ "Report: Sweden 1-2 England Elite League Squad". www.englandfootball.com. 7 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2024.
- ^ "WILL ALVES WAS CROWNED THE UK'S BEST YOUNG TECHNICAL FREESTYLE FOOTBALLER!". Brookvale Groby Learning Campus. 17 December 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Games played by Will Alves in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Games played by Will Alves in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Games played by Will Alves in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Games played by Will Alves in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
External links
[edit]- Will Alves at Soccerbase
