Allan (footballer, born 1991)


Allan Marques Loureiro, better known as Allan, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Italian club Napoli and the Brazil national team.
After starting out in the Madureira youth system in his home country, he joined Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado, but later returned to Brazil and made his professional debut with Vasco da Gama in 2009. Allan joined Italian club Udinese in 2012, and subsequently moved to fellow Serie A side Napoli in 2015.
At international level, he was a part of the Brazil under-20 side that won the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and later made his senior debut for Brazil in 2018; he was a member of the team that won the 2019 Copa América on home soil.

Club career

Madureira and Deportivo Maldonado

Allan was signed from Madureira by Uruguayan side Deportivo Maldonado at 17 years of age old for an undisclosed fee. However, he was later loaned out to Vasco da Gama back in Brazil; he would not make an appearance for Maldonado.

Vasco da Gama

Allan moved to Vasco da Gama once again still as a youth player, loaned from Deportivo Maldonado. A year after he played for their youth team, he was brought back and promoted to the first-team by coach Dorival Júnior, playing in many crucial games in the club's 2009 season to help the side win the Série B and secure promotion to the top-flight Série A, though he ultimately suffered an injury.
Due to injury Allan, could not compete with Vasco da Gama neither in the Campeonato Carioca nor the 2010 Copa do Brasil. After an initial recovery, he returned to the club's junior team to regain fitness before rejoining the first-team. He then returned to action in the last round of the Série A before the break for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing in the Copa da Hora friendly tournament. The club won the tournament, with Allan contributing to the title, also scoring a goal in a 3–2 victory over Coritiba.

Udinese

2012–13 season

In June 2012, Allan signed for Serie A side Udinese for a reported fee of R$7 million from Deportivo Maldonado. He made his debut for Udinese at home at the Stadio Friuli against Juventus, where he created an assist for teammate Andrea Lazzari's goal.
In his first season in Udine, Allan played mostly as a defensive midfielder, recovering and distributing a large number of balls. Manager Francesco Guidolin played him in 36 games in the league out of 38 games, he proved one of the best bargains of the season, defying expectation and playing almost all games as a starter to help Udinese to finish in a surprise fifth-place position, securing qualification to next year's UEFA Europa League.

2013–14 season

A more challenging second season followed Allan and Udinese, as the club finished 13th in the league in what was Francesco Guidolin's final season with the side. Despite this, Allan excelled in midfield, even scoring his first goals for the club as his improvement in Italy continued. His calm and controlled performance in midfield also prompted future Udinese manager Andrea Stramaccioni to suggest that he was now one of the best young midfielders in Europe, comparable to Manchester United's Paul Pogba.

2014–15 season

In the 2014–15 season, Allan was to be the top ball-winner of all of Europe's top-five leagues with the most balls won. His superb performances were tracked by major European sides Juventus, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, VfL Wolfsburg, Arsenal and Napoli, which all were reportedly interested in his signature. Allan ultimately joined the latter, remaining in Italy.

Napoli

2015–16 season

Allan made his Napoli debut in a pre-season friendly against Lega Pro side FeralpiSalò, which Napoli won 5–2. He made his first Serie A debut for Napoli at home against Sampdoria in the second matchday of the Serie A season, creating an assist for Gonzalo Higuaín with a through-ball that the latter converted with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box, making the scoreline 2–0. Allan was later substituted in the second half for David López. Allan would then receive a start in Napoli's third game of the season, a 2–2 away draw with Empoli, scoring an equalizer in the 78th minute after converting a pass from captain Marek Hamšík.
On 17 September, Allan came off the bench in the 62nd minute against Belgian club Club Brugge in his first ever Europa League game, assisting José Callejón's second goal of the game with a through-ball just minutes after coming on. The match finished 5–0 for Napoli, the club's largest European win and the joint-largest margin of defeat for Brugge, equalling its 6–1 defeat at Monaco in 1988. Allan would go on to score once again and provide another assist in a 5–0 win against Lazio, only three days after the Brugge victory on 20 September, giving manager Maurizio Sarri trust in him for his precise passing and defensive work.
On 26 September, Allan scored a goal against defending champions Juventus, with excellent passing and an impressive overall game in a 2–1 home win. On 4 October, Allan would score the opening goal in a 0–4 away rout of Milan in a swift counter-attacking move, where the Brazilian went one-on-one with Milan goalkeeper Diego López.

2016–17 season

29 Serie A appearances, 8 Champions League appearances culminating in an 86.6% pass completion rate, an average of 2.4 successful tackles per game and he also averaged one key pass per game.

International career

Under-20

He was called up by Brazilian under-20 coach Ney Franco on 20 August 2011, where he impressed enough at Vasco da Gama to earn a call-up for the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Brazil's U-20 World Cup-winning side also featured the likes of Oscar, Philippe Coutinho, Casemiro and Danilo, as well as future Napoli teammates Gabriel and Bruno Uvini. Brazil made it to the tournament final, beating Portugal 3–2 in extra time and winning the U20 World Cup for the fifth time.

Senior

Although born in Brazil, Allan holds dual Portuguese-Brazilian nationality, making him eligible to play for Brazil or Portugal. Allan also 'has a distant Italian relative' which qualifies him for an Italian passport and thus the Italian national team. Sky Sport Italia and TV Luna report that he has been asked 'to switch allegiances to the Azzurri' by national coach Roberto Mancini. Manager Tite, on 26 October 2018, named Allan to the Brazilian squad that will face Uruguay and Cameroon in friendlies the following month. However, because these were only exhibition matches, Allan still also remained eligible to play for Portugal and Italy at the time. He made his senior international debut in the former match, held in London on 16 November, which ended in a 1–0 victory to Brazil.
In May 2019, Allan was included in Brazil's 23-man squad for the 2019 Copa América on home soil. On 7 July, he come on as an injury-time substitute for Everton in Brazil's 3–1 victory over Peru in the final of the tournament, at the Maracanã Stadium.

Style of play

Considereed by several pundits and footballing figures to be one of the best midfielders in Serie A, Europe, and world football, Allan operates primarily as a defensive midfielder or as a central midfielder in the mezzala role, and is equally comfortable at playing both in an attacking and defensive midfield role; he is also capable of being deployed in a deeper role as a playmaker. As such, he has also been labelled a box-to-box midfielder in the media. He is also capable of playing on the left or right flank, and has even been deployed as a full-back on occasion.
Normally deployed as a holding midfielder in front of the back-line, Allan is known as a dynamic, physically strong, tenacious, and energetic right-footed midfielder, with good ball-winning abilities. He also possesses good technique, dribbling skills, pace and good long passing ability, which enables him to start attacking plays after winning back possession. He has been described as a complete and tactically versatile midfielder, who is different from traditional defensive midfielders, due to his reputation for dribbling past defenders and passing the ball through the legs of an opponent, a move known as the nutmeg.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Vasco da Gama
Napoli
Brazil U20
Brazil