Joel Pereira

Joel Vieira Pereira (born 28 September 1996) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Lech Poznan.

Club Career

Pereira was born in the village of Perosinho in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District. He played youth football for four clubs, including FC Porto from ages 11 to 17; he finished his development at Vitoria de Guimaraes.

On 16 September 2015, Pereira made his professional debut with Vitoria's reserves in the LigaPro, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 home draw against Atletico Clube de Portugal. In the 2017 January transfer window he signed with fellow league team Academico de Viseu FC, being voted the league's best right-back at the end of the 2017–18 season alongside FC Porto B's Diogo Dalot.

Subsequently, Pereira took his game to the Cypriot First Division, first with Doxa Katokopias FC then AC Omonia. On 31 January 2020, the latter club loaned him to Slovak Super Liga's FC Spartak Trnava on a six-month loan deal with an option to buy, being signed at the request of manager Ricardo Cheu and reuniting with his former Doxa teammate Bogdan Mitrea.

Pereira was loaned to Gil Vicente F.C. on 13 August 2020. He made his debut in the Portuguese Primeira Liga on 27 September, playing the entire 1–0 victory over Portimonense S.C. at the Estadio Cidade de Barcelos.

On 31 May 2021, Pereira signed a four-year contract with Polish club Lech Poznan.