João Manuel Neves Virgínia

João Virgínia is a Portuguese goalkeeper born in Faro on 10 October 1999, and he stands 1.93 metres tall. He began at local clubs before joining Benfica in 2011, then moved to Arsenal in 2015, where he developed and helped win the 2017–18 Premier League 2 title. Everton signed João Virgínia in 2018, and he later made his senior debut in a 3–0 EFL Cup victory over Salford City before appearing in the Premier League against Burnley in March 2021. Loan spells with Reading and Sporting CP followed, with Virgínia making his Champions League debut for Sporting against Ajax, while a subsequent stay at Cambuur brought 17 Eredivisie starts. After returning to Everton, he joined Sporting permanently in July 2025. For Portugal, he won the Under-17 European Championship in 2016, started the 2018 Under-19 final victory over Italy, and was a 2021 Under-21 European Championship runner-up. His game blends reflexes, shot-stopping and technical distribution, and Sporting use him for competition and cup depth.