Xande Silva


Alexandre "Xande" Nascimento da Costa e Silva is a Portuguese footballer who plays for English club West Ham United as a forward.

Club career

Vitória Guimarães

Born in Porto, Silva joined Vitória de Guimarães' academy at the age of 17 after a five-year spell at Sporting CP. He started his senior career with the former's reserves, making his Segunda Liga debut on 17 August 2014 by coming on as a late substitute in a 0–1 away loss against Oliveirense; he scored his first goal in the competition the following 18 January, helping the hosts beat Benfica B 4–1.
Silva's first appearance in the Primeira Liga took place in the penultimate match of the season, and he played 11 minutes in a 0–0 home draw to Benfica after replacing Otávio. His maiden league goal occurred on 7 December 2015, in a 3–1 home defeat of Rio Ave.

West Ham United

Silva joined West Ham United for an undisclosed fee on 2 August 2018, signing a three-year contract and being recruited initially for the under-23 team. He scored a four-minute hat-trick on his Premier League 2 debut 11 days later, against Tottenham Hotspur.
Silva made his Premier League debut on 30 December 2018 in a 0–2 away defeat to Burnley, coming on as a second-half substitute for Marko Arnautović. He missed the start of the 2019–20 season due to illness. Rushed into hospital in Portugal, he underwent emergency bowel surgery from which he was recuperating.

International career

Silva was capped by Portugal at every youth level between under-15 and under-20. He was part of the under-17 squad that reached the semi-finals of the 2014 UEFA European Championship, and was named in the Team of the Tournament.
Two years later, Silva helped the under-19 team to the semi-finals of the 2016 European Championship in Germany. He was then selected by under-20 manager Emílio Peixe for the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup, where he scored in the quarter-final against Uruguay, which they lost after a penalty shootout.

Personal life

Silva's father, Joaquim, was also a footballer. Also a forward, he spent most of his career in China and Portugal and represented the Angola national team.

Career statistics

Club