Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias was born on the 14th of May 1997, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Premier League club Manchester City and the Portugal national team. Unarguably, the Portuguese international is considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is known for his defensive prowess, strength, leadership, and aerial ability.
Club career
Benfica B
Report has confirmed that the Defender started his career at local club Estrela da Amadora after being brought to the club by a close family member. He initially played as a striker, before switching to defence, due to his team being losing by two goals during a match. However, before he moved to Benfica’s youth academy in 2008, where he played initially as a midfielder, before to central defence for the junior side until 2015. In the same year, on the 30th of September, he made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 2015–16 LigaPro match against Chaves.
Benfica
As per talkSPORT report, on the 16th of September 2017, Dias debuted for the first team in a Primeira Liga match against Boavista. After two months of impressive displays, including two games against Manchester United in the Champions League, he underwent surgery due to appendicitis, sidelining him for a month. The report has it that he scored his first goal for Benfica in a Taça da Liga encounter (2–2) against Vitória de Setúbal on 29 December 2017. And on the 3rd of February 2018, he scored his first goal in the Primeira Liga against Rio Ave (5–1). At the end of the season, he was voted Primeira Liga’s best young player of the year.
Manchester City
2020–21: Debut season and European final
According to the report from ESPN, it was confirmed that Dias signed for English Premier League club Manchester City on the 29th of September 2020 on a six-year contract, with an initial fee reported of €68 million (£61.64 million) that could rise to €71.6 million with performance bonuses, plus Nicolás Otamendi being sent to Benfica in part-exchange for €15 million bringing the net cost of the transaction to €56.6 million (£51 million). On the 3rd of October 2020, Dias made his league debut for City in a 1–1 away draw against Leeds United.
International career
Youth
As per BBC sport report, Dias represented the Under-17 side at the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. Two years later, he captained the Under-19 squad at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. However, the following year, it was reported that he captained the Under-20 side at the 2017 U-20 World Cup, which lost to Uruguay 5–4 on penalties in the quarterfinals. On the 5th of September 2017, he made his debut for the Under-21s in a 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Wales.
Senior
Report has it that the defender was called up to the senior side by Portugal manager Fernando Santos on the 15th of March 2018, ahead of international friendlies against Egypt and the Netherlands. However, after a frame of four days, he was dropped from the squad after picking up right ankle sprain. On the 17th of May 2018, Dias was named in Portugal’s 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Russia. Eleven days later, he made his international debut in a friendly against Tunisia.
Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias was selected to the squad for the UEFA Euro 2020. On the 19th of June 2021, he scored an own goal in the 35th minute in a 2–4 loss against Germany in the UEFA Euro 2020. The young star appeared in all of Portugal’s matches, being eventually eliminated at the round of 16, following a 1–0 loss against Belgium.
Rúben Dias Net Worth
Rúben Dias’ multimillion year contract with Manchester City has seen his net worth sky rocket to a mammoth 40 Million Euro (36.3 Million Pound).
Rúben Dias’ Salary
Rúben Dias signed a contract with Manchester City that nets him a whopping salary of 6 Million Euro (5.4 Million Pound) per year. We have crunched the numbers, this means he earns €29,744 (£26,980) per day and €1,239 (£1,124) per hour!
Per year €6,000,000 £5,217,391
Per month €500,000 £434,783
Per week €115,385 £100,334
Per day €16,438 £14,294
Per hour €685 £595
Per minute €11 £10
Honours
Benfica
Primeira Liga: 2018–19
Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2019
UEFA Youth League runner-up: 2016–17
Manchester City
Premier League: 2020–21, 2021–22
EFL Cup: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2020–21
Portugal
UEFA Nations League: 2018–19
Individual
UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2016
Cosme Damião Awards – Revelation of the Year: 2017
Primeira Liga Best Young Player of the Year: 2017–18
UEFA Nations League Finals Team of the Tournament: 2019
Primeira Liga Defender of the Month: March 2018, October/November 2019
Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2019–20
FWA Footballer of the Year: 2020–21
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2020–21
Manchester City Player of the Year: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2020–21
Premier League Player of the Season: 2020–21
ESM Team of the Year: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League Defender of the Season: 2020–21
IFFHS Men’s World Team: 2021
FIFA FIFPro World11: 2021