Paulo Renato Rebocho Ferreira, commonly known as Paulo Ferreira, (born 18 January 1979) is a Portuguese football player. Ferreira is predominantly a right-back, but has also played at left-back and in central defence for Chelsea, his current team.

Club career

Early career

An unspectacular but consistent performer, Paulo Ferreira was once described by Jose Mourinho as “a player who will never be man of the match but will always score 7/10 for his individual display.”

He started his career in the Portuguese Second Division for GD Estoril Praia. He then moved to Vitoria Setubal at the start of the 2001/2002 season.

Porto

Due to his excellent performances in the Portuguese Super Liga, he moved to F.C. Porto in the summer of 2002, signed by then-coach José Mourinho. Ferreira was previously a right-side midfielder until he met Mourinho at Porto.

In the following season, he won the League and Cup double domestically but the capture of the UEFA Cup over Celtic in Seville was the highlight of an exceptional season. The next season brought another Portuguese Liga title but more importantly he played every minute of FC Porto’s UEFA Champions League win.

Chelsea

After playing for FC Porto for two years he joined Chelsea for £13.2 million at the beginning of the Premiership 2004-2005 season. At Stamford Bridge, Ferreira was reunited with his former manager José Mourinho and former teammate Ricardo Carvalho, both of whom were also signed by Chelsea in the offseason.

Ferreira impressed greatly in his debut season, playing 29 Premier League matches before injury ruled him out for the remainder of the campaign. He continued his fine form into the following campaign, during which he scored his first Chelsea goal in the 3-1 victory over Colchester United in the FA Cup fourth round.

Despite becoming a regular on his manager’s team sheet, Ferreira suffered from a lack of confidence in the 2006/07 season, which eventually saw him lose his place to first Khalid Boulahrouz and then midfielder Geremi. The emergence of young French midfielder Lassana Diarra also prevented Ferreira from featuring in first-team affairs as Mourinho saw it fit to play the French international in the full-back position.

Ferreira’s lack of playing time seems all the more certain following the signing of experienced full-back Juliano Belletti. However, manager Avram Grant has alternated between the pair.

Ferreira signed a new 5-year deal on February 18, 2008.

International career

Ferreira was called up for the Portuguese Under-21 side and accumulated 27 caps.

He was called up to the national team for Portugal’s Euro 2004 campaign and started their opening game against Greece, but a series of mistakes in the game saw him dropped for Miguel for the rest of the tournament. He did, however, come on in Portugal’s defeat in the final following an injury to Miguel Monteiro.

Paulo made two appearances for Portugal in the 2006 World Cup. In the semi-final against France, which Portugal lost 0-1, Paulo came on in the second half for the injured Miguel. Paulo then started the third place playoff against the host country Germany, which the Germans won 3-1.

Ferreira faces competition from José Bosingwa and Miguel for the Portugal right-back slot and is often played at left-back since the retirement of Nuno Valente.