Emerson Royal
Brazilian footballer (born 1999)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior (born 14 January 1999), known as Emerson Royal or simply Emerson, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a right-back or centre-back for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and the Brazil national team.
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Emerson in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Emerson Aparecido Leite de Souza Junior[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 14 January 1999[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | São Paulo, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[3] | ||||||||||||||||
| Positions | |||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Flamengo | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 22 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Condor | |||||||||||||||||
| Unidos da Cordenonsi | |||||||||||||||||
| Guanabara | |||||||||||||||||
| Palmeiras | |||||||||||||||||
| Grêmio | |||||||||||||||||
| São Paulo | |||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Ponte Preta | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016–2018 | Ponte Preta | 19 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Atlético Mineiro | 23 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | → Betis (loan) | 6 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Barcelona | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | → Betis (loan) | 67 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | Tottenham Hotspur | 79 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | AC Milan | 17 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Flamengo | 30 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Brazil U20 | 11 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019–2020 | Brazil U23 | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Brazil | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 03:48, 23 July 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22 November 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
Emerson was born in São Paulo and was raised in Americana.[4] He got his nickname "Royal" as his uncle said he resembled the mascot of the Royal-branded gelatin dessert sold in Brazil.[5]
Club career
Ponte Preta
Emerson joined Ponte Preta's youth setup in 2014, after notably representing Palmeiras, São Paulo and Grêmio.[6][4] After appearing as an unused substitute in some matches of the 2016 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, he made his senior debut on 22 February 2017, replacing injured Artur in a 2–2 Campeonato Paulista away draw against Linense. Despite being booked and conceding a penalty, he was given his first start three days later, in a 1–0 home defeat of São Bernardo.[citation needed]
Emerson made his Série A debut on 5 November 2017, replacing injured John Kleber in a 2–0 loss at Bahia. He contributed with three league appearances during the campaign, as his side suffered relegation.[citation needed]
Promoted to the first team ahead of the 2018 season,[7] Emerson became a regular starter for Macaca, making 14 appearances in the 2018 Campeonato Paulista. On 2 April 2018, he scored his first professional goal, the winning one in the Campeonato Paulista do Interior final against Mirassol.[8]
Atlético Mineiro
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On 27 April 2018, Emerson signed a five-year deal with Atlético Mineiro,[9] for a rumoured fee of R$5 million. As a part of the deal, Danilo Barcelos moved in the opposite direction on loan.[10]
Emerson made his debut for the club on 19 May 2018, shortly after turning 19, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win over rivals Cruzeiro.[11] Initially a backup to Patric, he ended the year with 23 league appearances. He scored his first goal in the top tier on 30 September, netting his team's third in a 5–2 home routing of Sport.[citation needed]
Real Betis and Barcelona
On 31 January 2019, Atlético announced the transfer of Emerson to Barcelona, effective as of July 2019, for €12.7 million.[12] The deal consisted of a joint financial operation between Barcelona and fellow La Liga side Real Betis, in which each club paid half of the transfer fee and retained a percentage of Emerson's economic rights. He was to become a Betis player in July 2019, with Barcelona holding the option of reacquiring him for €6 million in 2021.[13] Emerson initially joined Betis on loan from Atlético for the remainder of the 2018–19 season, during which period he made seven appearances for the club.[14] He then became a regular starter for the Andalusians, and scored his first goal abroad on 27 September 2019, but in a 1–5 loss to Villarreal. He scored 3 goals and added 6 assists that season in 34 appearances for Betis, only missing 3 La Liga games.
On 2 June 2021, Barcelona exercised their option to bring back Emerson for three seasons by paying Betis €9 million.[15][16]
Tottenham Hotspur
On the final day of the 2021 summer transfer window, Tottenham signed Emerson on a five-year deal for a reported £25.8 million transfer fee.[17] His debut was in the Premier League away to Crystal Palace which Tottenham lost 3–0 on 11 September.[18] On 3 April 2022, he scored his first goal for Tottenham in a 5–1 home win against Newcastle United.[19] On October 1, 2022, during the second half of Tottenham's Premier League away game against Arsenal, Royal received a straight red card for his tackle on Gabriel Martinelli. The team went on to lose 3–1 in the North London derby.[20] On 28 March 2023, the club announced he would undergo surgery on a knee injury he sustained on international duty with Brazil.[21] On August 13, 2023, Emerson Royal scored a drilled shot from outside the box to secure a 2–2 draw against Brentford on the opening game of the 2023–24 Premier League season. Due to a large amount of injuries at the club, Emerson filled in as a starter at left-back and centre-back as well as his natural right-back position throughout the first half of the season, widely impressing with his displays.[22] On 22 January 2024, it was reported that Tottenham Hotspur had rejected a £20 million bid from Saudi club Al-Nassr for Emerson.[22]
AC Milan
On 12 August 2024, Emerson joined Italian Serie A club AC Milan on a four-year deal.[23] Emerson came off the bench to make his debut in the 2–1 away defeat to Parma.[24]
Flamengo
On 26 July 2025, Emerson joined Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo and signed a three year contract with the club.[25]
International career
Emerson was called up to the Brazil under-20 team for the 2017 Toulon Tournament.[26] He was the first-choice right-back at the 2019 South American U-20 Championship and the 2019 Toulon Tournament, having won the latter with Brazil's under-23 side.[citation needed]
Emerson made his senior international debut for Brazil on 19 November 2019, coming off the bench in a 3–0 victory over South Korea.[27]
On 11 June 2021, Emerson was called up by manager Tite for the 2021 Copa América.[28] He made his tournament debut on 17 June, playing the last six minutes in a 4–0 thrashing of Peru in Brazil's second group match. Ten days later, he was given his first start as he played the full match in a 1–1 draw in their final group stage match against Ecuador. On 10 July, he played in the final, after coming on in the 76th minute in their 0–1 defeat against Argentina.[29]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 22 July 2026[30]
| Club | Season | League | State league[a] | National cup[b] | League cup[c] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ponte Preta | 2016 | Série A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2018 | Série B | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |||
| Total | 3 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 1 | |||
| Atlético Mineiro | 2018 | Série A | 23 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | 1 | |||||
| Real Betis (loan) | 2018–19 | La Liga | 6 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1[d] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | 33 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 34 | 3 | ||||||
| 2020–21 | 34 | 1 | — | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | 38 | 2 | ||||||
| Total | 73 | 4 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 79 | 5 | |||||
| Barcelona | 2021–22 | La Liga | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2021–22 | Premier League | 31 | 1 | — | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3[e] | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | ||
| 2022–23 | 26 | 2 | — | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8[f] | 0 | — | 36 | 2 | ||||
| 2023–24 | 22 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 79 | 4 | — | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 101 | 4 | ||||
| AC Milan | 2024–25 | Serie A | 17 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 6[f] | 0 | 2[g] | 0 | 25 | 0 | ||
| Flamengo | 2025 | Série A | 15 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 3[h] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | ||
| 2026 | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 5[h] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |||
| Total | 24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 222 | 10 | 22 | 1 | 20 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 297 | 12 | ||
- Includes Campeonato Paulista, Campeonato Carioca
- Includes Copa do Brasil, Copa del Rey, FA Cup
- Appearance in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Appearances in Supercoppa Italiana
- Appearances in Copa Libertadores
International
- As of match played 25 March 2023[31]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 0 | |
Honours
AC Milan
Flamengo
- FIFA Challenger Cup: 2025[33]
- FIFA Derby of the Americas: 2025[34]
- Copa Libertadores: 2025[35]
- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2025[36]
- Campeonato Carioca: 2026
Brazil U23
Brazil
- Copa América runner-up: 2021[38]
Individual
- Toulon Tournament Best XI: 2019[39]
