J. Tavares

Djé Tavares learned the game far from a training ground. After moving from Cabo Verde to Portugal, he worked on building sites before football turned into a job rather than a hope.

He started out with ADEC, helping the side reach the Liga Santiago Norte on the island of Santiago. The move to Portugal came in 2023, when he joined Alverca's reserve side, playing regularly in the Campeonato de Portugal.

A year later, Santa Clara took him on, initially into their B team, where his form picked up sharply: seven goals in eighteen appearances in 2024/25. That run was enough to persuade the club to promote him to the first team in November 2025, and within the same month Santa Clara moved to secure him, tying him to a contract running to 2030.

Since stepping up to the Primeira Liga side, Tavares has settled into a squad role rather than an immediate starring one, with appearances building steadily through the 2025/26 campaign. He has not yet added his name to the scoresheet at senior level, but has contributed at least one assist along the way.

Off the pitch, his name has started to circulate beyond Portugal. Cabo Verde's push toward a first-ever World Cup appearance has put a number of young players in the international conversation, and Tavares has spoken publicly about wanting to be part of it, even without a confirmed senior cap to his name yet.