Josué Sá
Portuguese footballer
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Josué Humberto Gonçalves Leal de Sá (born 17 June 1992) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Liga Portugal 2 club Lusitânia.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Josué Humberto Gonçalves Leal de Sá[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 June 1992[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Lisbon, Portugal[1] | ||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lusitânia | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2000–2009 | Sporting CP | ||
| 2009–2011 | Vitória Guimarães | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2011−2017 | Vitória Guimarães | 97 | (5) |
| 2011−2012 | → Chaves (loan) | 23 | (1) |
| 2012−2014 | Vitória Guimarães B | 48 | (2) |
| 2017−2020 | Anderlecht | 22 | (0) |
| 2018−2019 | → Kasımpaşa (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2019−2020 | → Huesca (loan) | 26 | (1) |
| 2020−2022 | Ludogorets Razgrad | 27 | (5) |
| 2022 | → Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2022–2024 | Rio Ave | 42 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | Gil Vicente | 18 | (1) |
| 2025– | Lusitânia | 25 | (1) |
| International career | |||
| 2010 | Portugal U18 | 5 | (0) |
| 2011−2012 | Portugal U19 | 12 | (0) |
| 2012 | Portugal U20 | 5 | (0) |
| 2013 | Portugal U21 | 6 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 20:45, 28 May 2026 (UTC) | |||
He made over 150 Primeira Liga appearances for Vitória de Guimarães, Rio Ave and Gil Vicente. He also had spells in five foreign countries.
Sá represented Portugal at youth level.
Club career
Vitória Guimarães
Born in Lisbon, Sá spent nine of his formative years with local Sporting CP, signing with Vitória S.C. at the age of 17.[2] He started his senior career in 2011, being loaned by the latter to third division club G.D. Chaves.[3]
Subsequently returned to Guimarães, Sá initially alternated between the first team and the recently created reserve side in the Segunda Liga.[4][5] His first appearance in the Primeira Liga with the former was on 20 January 2013, when he came on as a late substitute in a 3−1 away win against Rio Ave FC.[6]
Sá scored his first goal in the Portuguese top tier on 7 November 2014, in a 2−1 away victory over F.C. Arouca.[7] He added another one[8] during the season from 26 appearances, helping to an eventual fifth-place finish and qualification for the UEFA Europa League.[9]
On 6 May 2016, Sá renewed his contract until 2019, with the release clause being improved from €3 to 8 million.[10]
Anderlecht
Sá joined R.S.C. Anderlecht on 31 August 2017, agreeing to a four-year deal.[11] He made his Belgian Pro League debut on 1 October, playing the entire 1–0 home win over Standard Liège.[12]
Sá spent the following two seasons on loan, to Turkish Süper Lig's Kasımpaşa S.K.[13] and SD Huesca of the Spanish Segunda División.[14] On 22 December 2019, he scored the winner for the latter in a 2–1 home defeat of Aragonese rivals Real Zaragoza,[15] en route to promotion as champions.[16]
Later career
On 2 October 2020, Sá joined PFC Ludogorets Razgrad of the First Professional Football League on a three-year contract.[17] After winning the league in his first season, he was voted Player of the Month in August 2021, having scored twice.[18] He moved to his fifth foreign country the following 2 February, joining Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. of the Israeli Premier League on loan for the rest of the campaign.[19]
Sá returned to his country's top flight on 26 August 2022, signing a two-year deal with the option of a third at newly promoted Rio Ave.[20] In July 2024, he joined Gil Vicente F.C. in the same league.[21] He scored his only goal for the latter on 19 January 2025, from close range following a corner kick to help the hosts beat FC Porto 3–1 in the domestic league.[22]
On 22 September 2025, aged 33, the free agent Sá moved to second-tier club Lusitânia F.C. on a two-year contract.[23] He all but missed his second season due to an anterior cruciate ligament injury.[24]
International career
Across four youth levels, Sá won 28 caps for Portugal. His first for the under-21s arrived on 25 March 2013, in a 2−1 friendly defeat of the Republic of Ireland held in Dundalk.[25]
Career statistics
- As of match played 1 December 2021[26]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Chaves (loan) | 2011–12 | Segunda Divisão | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 23 | 1 | |
| Vitória Guimarães B | 2012–13 | Segunda Liga | 31 | 1 | – | – | – | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2013–14 | Campeonato Nacional | 9 | 1 | – | – | – | 9 | 1 | ||||
| 2014–15 | Segunda Liga | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 48 | 2 | – | – | – | 48 | 2 | |||||
| Vitória Guimarães | 2012–13 | Primeira Liga | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 3 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 28 | 2 | |||
| 2015–16 | 31 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2016–17 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 36 | 1 | |||
| 2017–18 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||
| Total | 97 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 109 | 5 | ||
| Anderlecht | 2017–18 | Belgian Pro League | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 3[b] | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| Kasımpaşa (loan) | 2018–19 | Süper Lig | 17 | 1 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | |
| Huesca (loan) | 2019–20 | Segunda División | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 1 | ||
| Ludogorets | 2020–21 | First League | 17 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | 1[c] | 0 | 21 | 2 | |
| 2021–22 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 5[d] | 0 | 15 | 3 | |||
| Total | 27 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 36 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 260 | 15 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 294 | 15 | ||
- Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Appearance in UEFA Europa League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League
Honours
Huesca
Ludogorets Razgrad
Individual
