Junior Messias

In this Portuguese name, "Júnior" is a generational suffix used for someone whose name is the same as their father, like "Jr." in English.
Júnior Messias
Messias with Crotone in 2020
Personal information
Full name Walter Messias Júnior
Date of birth (1991-05-13) 13 May 1991 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Genoa
Number 10
Youth career
2008–2011 Cruzeiro
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Casale 32 (21)
2016–2017 Chieri 33 (14)
2017–2019 Gozzano 51 (8)
2019–2022 Crotone 70 (15)
2021–2022 → AC Milan (loan) 26 (5)
2022–2024 AC Milan 25 (5)
2023–2024 → Genoa (loan) 9 (1)
2024– Genoa 10 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:45, 17 August 2024 (UTC)

Walter Messias Júnior (born 13 May 1991) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Genoa. Capable of playing anywhere across the attacking front, he has also been deployed on occasions as an attacking midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Messias started his senior career in the lower-tier, non-professional Italian divisions,[3] being discovered by former Torino player and manager Ezio Rossi, who persuaded him to join Casale in 2015.[4]

At the end of the 2017–18 season his team Gozzano was promoted to Serie C.[5] He made his professional Serie C debut for Gozzano on 23 September 2018 in a game against Cuneo, starting the game and played the whole match.[6] He scored his first professional-level goal on 26 September 2018, against Piacenza.[citation needed]

Crotone

On 31 January 2019, Messias' rights were sold to Serie B club Crotone, who loaned him back to Gozzano until the end of the 2018–19 season.[7] He finished his first professional-level season with 33 appearances (32 as a starter) and four goals.[citation needed] Messias made his Serie B debut for Crotone on 24 August 2019 in a game against Cosenza, starting the game and played the whole match.[8] He was instrumental in Crotone's promotion to the Italian top flight (the second in the club history) by scoring six goals throughout the season, and was confirmed as part of the team squad for the 2020–21 Serie A campaign.[citation needed]

He scored his first Serie A goal on 25 October 2020 against Cagliari, followed by two braces in December against Spezia and Parma.[citation needed]

AC Milan

On 31 August 2021, Messias joined AC Milan on a one-year loan deal with an option to buy.[9] He made his debut for the club on 3 October 2021, coming on as a substitute in a 3–2 win over Atalanta. On 24 November, he scored his first goal for Milan on his UEFA Champions League debut; he scored the only goal of a 1–0 group stage win over Atlético Madrid. Messias described his header as "the most important moment of [his] career".[10] On 1 December 2021, he received his first league start scoring a brace in a 3–0 away win for Milan against Genoa.

On 6 January 2022, against Roma, he scored the second goal in eventual 3–1 win.[11] On 17 January against Spezia, Messias last minute goal and potentially the winner was controversially disallowed by the referee due to a beforehand foul on his teammate, Ante Rebic, Spezia went on to score the second and win 2–1, the referee apologized to Milan players for the incident.[12][13] On 19 February, he scored the opener against Salernitana in 2–2 draw.[14] On 15 April, he scored against Genoa again to seal 2–0 win.[15] On 15 May he provided the assist to Leao against Atalanta in the first goal as Milan won 2–0,[16] One week later Milan was crowned The Scudetto title after 11-year absence. Overall Messias contribution in the campaign was 5 goals and 2 assists in 26 matches.

On 7 July, Milan bought him, despite the option to buy having already expired.[17]

Genoa

On 11 August 2023, Messias joined recently promoted Serie A club Genoa on a season-long loan with the option to make the deal permanent, which becomes an obligation if certain conditions are met.[18] On 13 January 2024, Genoa CFC paid the clause to AC Milan, totalling 3 million euros and with Messias permanently moving to the club.[19]

Personal life

A Brazilian by birth, Messias moved to Italy in 2011 together with his wife and son, joining his brother in Turin, where he started working in the delivery sector and playing football for an amateur team of the local Peruvian community in his free time.[4]

Career statistics

As of match played 17 August 2024[20]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coppa Italia Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Casale 2015–16 Eccellenza 32 21 — — — 32 21
Chieri 2016–17 Serie D 33 14 — — 1[a] 1 34 15
Gozzano 2017–18 Serie D 19 4 — — 4[b] 1 23 5
2018–19 Serie C 32 4 — — 3[c] 1 35 5
Total 51 8 — — 7 2 58 10
Crotone 2019–20 Serie B 34 6 2 0 — — 36 6
2020–21 Serie A 36 9 1 0 — — 37 9
Total 70 15 3 0 — — 73 15
AC Milan (loan) 2021–22 Serie A 26 5 4 0 2[d] 1 — 32 6
AC Milan 2022–23 Serie A 25 5 1 0 9[d] 1 1[e] 0 36 6
Genoa 2023–24[f] Serie A 18 1 0 0 — — 18 1
2024–25 Serie A 1 1 1 1 — — 2 2
Total 19 2 1 1 — — 20 3
Career total 256 69 9 1 11 2 9 3 285 75
  1. ^ Appearance in Coppa Italia Serie D
  2. ^ One appearance in Coppa Italia Serie D, three appearances and one goal in Serie D play-offs
  3. ^ Appearances in Coppa Italia Serie C
  4. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearance in Supercoppa Italiana
  6. ^ Part of this season was spent on loan from AC Milan

Honours

AC Milan

References

  1. ^ "Official Statement: Messias Junior". AC Milan.
  2. ^ "Júnior Messias: Biography". AC Milan. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  3. ^ Junior Messias at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
  4. ^ a b "Junior Messias, dallo sbarco in Italia in cerca di lavoro alla Serie A nel Crotone" (in Italian). LACNews24. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  5. ^ "La storia di Junior, il "Messia" brasiliano che a Crotone avrà finalmente la sua chance | Sport Team Calabria" (in Italian). 31 January 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Cuneo v Gozzano game report". Soccerway. 23 September 2018.
  7. ^ "Comunicato 04/2019" (Press release) (in Italian). Gozzano. 31 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Crotone v Cosenza game report". Soccerway.
  9. ^ "Official Statement: Messias Junior". AC Milan. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  10. ^ Campanale, Susy (24 November 2021). "Messias: 'Dedicated to those who believed in me'". Football Italia. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  11. ^ "SENSATIONAL START TO 2022". Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  12. ^ Bettoni, Lorenzo. "REFEREE SERRA REVEALS WHAT IBRAHIMOVIC TOLD HIM AFTER MILAN-SPEZIA". Football Italia. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  13. ^ "AC MILAN BEATEN AT THE DEATH". acmilan. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  14. ^ "A DRAW IN SALERNO". acmilan. Retrieved 19 February 2022.
  15. ^ "AC MILAN 2-0 GENOA: RAFAEL LEAO AND JUNIOR MESSIAS GOALS SEE MILAN RETURN TO TOP OF SERIE A". Euro Sport. 15 April 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  16. ^ "AC MILAN 2-0 ATALANTA: ROSSONERI MOVE TO WITHIN A POINT OF FIRST SCUDETTO IN 11 YEARS WITH COMFORTABLE WIN". Euro Sport. 15 May 2022. Retrieved 23 May 2022.
  17. ^ "UFFICIALE: Milan, torna Messias. Stavolta il brasiliano si veste di rossonero a titolo definitivo - TUTTOmercatoWEB.com". www.tuttomercatoweb.com (in Italian). Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  18. ^ "Official Statement: Junior Messias". AC Milan. 11 August 2023.
  19. ^ "Genoa purchase Junior Messias from Milan - Football Italia". football-italia.net. 14 January 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  20. ^ Junior Messias at Soccerway. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Milan secure 1st Serie A title in 11 years". News18 India. 22 May 2022. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
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