Adrien Silva

Adrien Sébastien Perruchet Silva (born 15 March 1989), commonly known as Adrien Silva, is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Portuguese club Sporting CP in the Primeira Liga. He primarily plays as a central midfielder who is adept at playing both offensively and defensively. Silva is described by former Sporting manager Paulo Bento as a "complete midfielder" who "wets his jersey in every game he plays".

Silva was born in France and is of dual nationality having been born to a Portuguese father and a French mother. He began his career in his birth country playing for Bordeaux. At the age of 11, his family moved to Portugal and he joined ARC Paçô. After two years at the club, Silva moved to one of the biggest clubs in the country, Sporting CP. After a successful youth career with the club, he made his professional debut in the 2007–08 season. Despite limited appearances, Silva was a part of the teams that finished runner-up to Porto in the league in back-to-back seasons (2007–08 and 2008–09). He also played in the teams that reached back-to-back Taça da Liga finals in 2008 and 2009. After an underwhelming 2009–10 campaign, he was sent on loan to Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. He returned to Sporting in January 2011, but was immediately sent on loan for the second time to fellow Primeira Liga Académica de Coimbra.

Though born in France, Silva elected to represent Portugal at international level. He has represented his nation at every youth level for which he was eligible. In 2007, he was Portugal's lone representative at the 2007 UEFA-CAF Meridian Cup, but due to injury, did not participate in the competition. During his stint at under-21 level, Silva regularly turned out as captain of the team.