Nuno Coelho

Nuno Miguel Prata Coelho (born 23 November 1987) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for G.D. Chaves mainly as a defensive midfielder but also as a central defender.

Club Career

Born in Covilha, Coelho moved from hometown club S.C. Covilha to FC Porto in 2005 to complete his formation although he had already appeared for the former's first team, and went on to serve three loans in the following three seasons, including two and a half years at second division side Portimonense SC, where he played alongside namesake Nuno Andre Coelho.

Coelho was again loaned by Porto in July 2009, moving to Villarreal CF in Spain. The deal eventually broke, however, and he stayed in Portugal by penning a two-year contract with Academica de Coimbra.

On 9 June 2011, after being regularly used in two Primeira Liga campaigns by the Students, Coelho signed a four-year deal with S.L. Benfica. In August, deemed surplus to requirements by manager Jorge Jesus, he was loaned to S.C. Beira-Mar, joining Super League Greece side Aris Thessaloniki F.C. in 2012 on yet another loan.

In the summer of 2013, Coelho was released by the Lisbon-based club and moved to F.C. Arouca, recently promoted to the top flight. He went on to be their first-choice holding midfielder for several years, as well as team captain.