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Brazilian footballer (born 1996) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
João Morelli Neto (born 11 March 1996) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
 Morelli with HFX Wanderers in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | João Morelli Neto | ||
| Date of birth | 11 March 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Itu, Brazil[1] | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2015 | Ituano | ||
| 2016-2018 | Middlesbrough | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2015–2018 | Middlesbrough | 0 | (0) |
| 2017 | → FCI Levadia (loan) | 24 | (16) |
| 2018 | Fleetwood Town | 0 | (0) |
| 2018 | Ituano | 9 | (2) |
| 2019 | FCI Levadia | 33 | (12) |
| 2020–2023 | HFX Wanderers | 43 | (24) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 28 November 2023 | |||
Morelli was born and raised in the city of Itu, São Paulo state.[1][2] In 2013, he joined the under-17 team of local club Ituano, where he scored three goals in eight appearances, primarily as a substitute.[1] The following year, he was promoted to the under-20 team, where he made another five appearances.[1]
In March 2015, Morelli signed a contract with EFL Championship side Middlesbrough until the end of the season, the result of Boro's partnership with Ituano.[3] In the 2016–17 season, he made ten appearances in Premier League 2 for Middlesbrough's under-23 side, scoring two goals.[4] Over the course of his first two years at the club, he scored eleven goals in 41 appearances in all competitions for Middlesbrough's under-23s.[5]
On 20 February 2017, Morelli signed a one-year contract extension with Middlesbrough before going on a year-long loan to Estonian Meistriliiga side FCI Levadia Tallinn.[6] In 22 league appearances that season, he scored sixteen goals, tying for fifth in league scoring.[4][7] Morelli also played 90 minutes in both legs of Levadia's Europa League first qualifying round series against Irish club Cork City.[4]
On 31 January 2018, Morelli signed an 18-month contract with EFL League One side Fleetwood Town.[8] Shortly after he signed for the club, manager Uwe Rösler was sacked and replaced by Joey Barton, under whom Morelli later recounted feeling "lost" after a drastic change of tactics and position.[2] He subsequently failed to make a competitive appearance for the Fishermen and was released at the end of the season.[4]
On 29 August 2018, Morelli returned to Ituano, where he made nine appearances and scored two goals in the Copa Paulista.[1][4]
On 27 December 2018, Morelli returned to FCI Levadia, signing a two-year contract.[9] He made 29 league appearances that season, scoring eleven goals.[4] He also appeared for Levadia in the Estonian Supercup and scored a goal in one appearance in the Estonian Cup.[4] Later in the season, he played every minute of both legs in Levadia's extra-time loss to Icelandic club Stjarnan in Europa League qualifying.[4]
On February 25, 2020, Morelli signed with Canadian Premier League side HFX Wanderers.[10] He made his debut for the Wanderers on August 15 against Pacific FC, and converted a penalty in an eventual 2–2 draw.[11] After a very strong 2021 season, Morelli was the Golden Boot winner in the CPL,[12] netting 14 goals in 21 games and was nominated for the CPL Player of the Year award on December 5, 2021.[13] On December 12, the Wanderers announced Morelli had signed a contract extension through 2023.[14] Two days later, on December 14, at the CPL awards ceremony, Morelli was named the 2021 CPL Player of the Year.[15]
During the Wanderers' second game of the 2022 season against Atlético Ottawa on April 16, Morelli suffered an ACL injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the season.[16][17]
In July 2023, Morelli was officially cleared to play again, as the club signed him to a new contract extension, adding a club option for 2024.[18][19] On July 31, he scored his first goal since returning from injury in a 2–0 league victory over York United.[20][21] He went on to score four goals in nine appearances for Halifax, before missing out on the final games of the regular season, as well as the play-offs, due to a new injury.[22][23]
On November 3, 2023, Morelli officially announced his retirement from football, citing his will to take care of his family as the main reason behind his choice.[23][24] At the time of his retirement, the forward was the all-time leading scorer for the Wanderers, having scored 24 goals in 43 games for the club,[23] as well as the joint-fifth highest scorer in the history of the CPL (22 goals).[24] In June 2024, he was sanctioned for doping, receiving an 18 month ban, from a sample collected in August 2023 that tested positive for clomiphene metabolites.[25]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | Continental[b] | Other[c] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Middlesbrough U21 | 2016–17 | – | — | — | — | 3[d] | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| FCI Levadia (loan) | 2017 | Meistriliiga | 22 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 16 |
| Fleetwood Town | 2017–18 | EFL League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ituano | 2018 | Campeonato Paulista | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 2 | 9 | 2 | ||
| FCI Levadia | 2019 | Meistriliiga | 29 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 12 |
| HFX Wanderers | 2020 | Canadian Premier League | 8 | 4 | — | — | 1 | 0 | 9 | 4 | ||
| 2021 | 21 | 14 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 23 | 15 | ||||
| 2022 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 1 | ||||
| 2023 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 | |||
| Total | 40 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 24 | ||
| Career total | 91 | 50 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 112 | 54 | ||
HFX Wanderers
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