Born on 19 June, 2002, in Sintra in the Lisbon suburbs, Nuno Alexandre Tavares Mendes started playing football with Despertar at Casal de Cambra, and his talent was soon spotted by the country’s biggest clubs.
A year after his arrival, he joined the Sporting CP youth academy. He excelled at full-back, progressing from his nation’s U16 side all the way to making his U21 debut in 2020. He also made his first-team debut at club level, and played 47 times (1 goal, 3 assists), helping them to the league title and League Cup.
He also made his senior international debut and went to EURO 2020 before leaving his home country to join Paris Saint-Germain. The left-back is the 13th Portuguese player to wear the Rouge-et-Bleu shirt, and has quickly become one of the best young players in the league.
Solid defensively and dynamic in attack, he is also capable of scoring crucial goals, as demonstrated against Juventus in the Champions League. In the 2022/2023 season, he participated in 29 matches across all competitions. Just like the previous season, he was named the Young Player of the Year in Ligue 1 and won the league title once again.
