Adrien Silva

Adrien Silva (b.1989) is a Portuguese professional footballer, who plays as a central midfielder.

He played mostly for Sporting Clube de Portugal since making his first-team debuts at the age of 18, but was also loaned several times by the club, notably to Académica, and he won one Taça de Portugal with each team.

Silva gained 41 caps for Portugal all youth categories comprised, including 14 for the under-21 team. Known for his dribbling and passing qualities he was described by Paulo Bento, who managed him at Sporting, as a "complete midfielder" who "wets his jersey in every game he plays".

Silva was born in Angoulême, a commune located in Poitou-Charentes, France, to a Portuguese father and a French mother. He began his football career at the age of five playing for FC Girondins de Bordeaux but, after six years at the club, his father, who worked in aeronautics, returned to Portugal and the family settled in Arcos de Valdevez.

Silva's performances led to interest from the Big Three in Portugal, Sporting Clube de Portugal, F.C. Porto and S.L. Benfica, and he ultimately chose to join the second.

In his six-year stint in Sporting's academy Silva won seven total titles, which consisted of four national championships and three regional ones. At the age of 15 he, along with Portuguese under-16 teammates Ricardo Fernandes and Fábio Ferreira, was scouted by English club Chelsea, with the three players later travelling to London and training at the club's facilities, however, the approach was eventually called off after Sporting filed a complaint with FIFA in January 2005, but Fernandes and Ferreira eventually did sign.

Though born in France, Silva elected to play for Portugal at international level. He represented his nation at every youth level for which he was eligible.