Joelson Fernandes
Joelson Augusto Mendes Mango Fernandes, or more simply Joelson, is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Primeira Liga club Gil Vicente. Born in Guinea-Bissau, he represented Portugal's youth teams.
Club career
Joelson's play has led to him being compared to the ex-Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. He gathered the attention of several big European clubs such as RB Leipzig, Borussia Dortmund and Arsenal.Having started training with the first squad after the COVID-19 pandemic, he first figured on the bench of a Liga NOS game on 18 June 2020 against C.D. Tondela.
On 31 August 2021, Joelson completed a move to Basel on a two-year-loan. He joined Basel's first team during their [2021–22 FC FC Basel|Basel season|2021–22 season] under head coach Patrick Rahmen. He played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the Cornaredo on 12 September as Basel played a 1–1 draw with Lugano. However, on 2 September 2022, the loan was terminated early by mutual agreement. During his loan period with the club, Joelson played a total of 28 games for Basel scoring a total of 2 goals. 18 of these games were in the Swiss Super League, 3 in the Swiss Cup, 2 in the UEFA Europa Conference League and 5 were friendly games. He scored both goals during the test games.
On 11 July 2023, Joelson signed for Turkish club Hatayspor on a free transfer, with Sporting keeping 50% of the player's economic rights.
On 30 August 2025, following two seasons in Turkey, Joelson returned to Portugal, signing a four-year contract with Primeira Liga club Gil Vicente.
International career
Through his double nationality, Joelson is eligible to play for both Portugal and Guinea-Bissau.He became an under-17 Portugal youth international in November 2019, aged only 16, in a Euro qualifier match against Albania. He made his debut for Portugal U21 in September 2020.
Personal life
Born in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau, Joelson moved to Portugal in 2014.Joelson Fernandes' family has very close ties to both football and Sporting Portugal: his father, Mango, was part of the Sporting youth setups, before becoming a footballing agent, and Joelson's younger brother Saná was also part of the Lions academy. His older brother, Ricardo, and cousin Roger Fernandes are also professional footballers.