Matheus Fellipe Costa Pereira

Belo Horizonte gave Matheus Pereira his birth city. He came through Sporting CP's academy after starting out at Trafaria, and while his time in the senior Sporting shirt was brief, the loans that followed at Chaves and 1. FC Nürnberg gave him regular football and goals. It was at West Bromwich Albion, first on loan and then permanently, that he became a genuine goal threat from midfield, with 42 appearances and eight goals in his loan spell alone.

The move to Al Hilal in August 2021 changed the scale of what he could win. He started the final as Al Hilal beat Pohang Steelers 2–0 to lift the AFC Champions League, and added the Saudi Super Cup and the Saudi Pro League title in the same season. A loan spell at Al Wahda interrupted his time in Riyadh before Cruzeiro paid around €5.5 million to sign him permanently in June 2024.

Domestic silverware in Brazil has so far eluded him — Cruzeiro finished runners-up in the 2024 Copa do Brasil and lost the Campeonato Mineiro final that year — but individually 2025 was his best season yet. He won the Bola de Prata, was named in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year and picked up the Troféu Mesa Redonda award for best midfielder. That run of form was enough to earn a first call-up to the Brazil national team, and he made his debut on 15 October 2024 in a 4–0 World Cup qualifying win over Peru.