William Thomas Alves (born 4 May 2005) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Leicester City.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | William Thomas Alves[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 4 May 2005[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Leicester, England | ||
| Position(s) | Left winger | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Leicester City | ||
| Number | 37 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2022 | Leicester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022– | Leicester City | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2022 | England U17 | 4 | (0) |
| 2022– | England U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 2024 | England U20 | 1 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:53, 8 January 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 01:54, 8 June 2024 (UTC) | |||
Club career
In 2018, while he was a Year 9 pupil at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Alves won the MOTD "Can You Kick It" competition to find the UK's best young technical freestyle footballer.[3] On 8 January 2022, Alves made his professional club debut for Leicester as an 86th minute substitute for Ademola Lookman during a 4–1 win against Watford in the third round of the FA Cup.[4] On 21 December 2022, Alves suffered a torn ACL in the second half of extra time in a 3–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Youth Cup.[5] The injury was caused by a foul from Caden Voice and caused a public outcry. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers stated that the challenge was "one of the worst I have seen".[6][7]Other team members, such as James Maddison, also publicly commented in support of Alves, describing the tackle as "unacceptable".[8]
International career
Born in England, Alves is of Portuguese descent.[9] In February 2022 he represented the England under-17 team against Scotland.[10]
On 21 September 2022, Alves made his England U18 debut as a substitute during a 1–0 win over Netherlands at the Pinatar Arena.[11]
On 7 June 2024, Alves made a goalscoring debut for the England U20s during a 2-1 win over Sweden at Stadion ŠRC Sesvete.[12]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 20 December 2022
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Leicester City U21 | 2021–22[13] | — | — | — | — | 3[a] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| Leicester City | 2021–22[13] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022–23[14] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2023–24[15] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||