William Thomas Alves (born 4 May 2005) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Leicester City.
Club career Alves joined Leicester City at under-9s level and progressed through the Academy before making his senior debut at age 16. On 8 January 2022, Alves made his professional club debut for Leicester as an 86th minute substitute for Ademola Lookman during a 4–1 win against Watford in the third round of the FA Cup.
On 21 December 2022, Alves suffered a torn ACL in the second half of extra time in a 3–1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Youth Cup. The injury was caused by a foul from Caden Voice and caused a public outcry. Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers called the challenge "one of the worst I have seen".
Alves returned to the U21 team on 3 November 2023, scoring in a 2–2 draw against Newcastle that was later abandoned. He followed this by playing the first half in a EFL Trophy match against Fleetwood Town that finished in a 4–0 defeat on 7 November.
In August 2024, Alves signed a new four-year contract for the club. Alves made his Premier League debut as a substitute in the 2–0 defeat to Manchester City on 29 December 2024.
On 3 February 2025, Alves moved to Championship side Cardiff City on loan for the rest of the season. He made his club debut for Cardiff on 8 February in a FA Cup match against Stoke City. The match was 3–3 before going to penalties, which Cardiff won 4–2. He made his league debut on 11 February in a 2–1 defeat to Portsmouth. He scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw with Preston North End on 8 April.
On September 1, 2025, Alves moved to EFL League One side Huddersfield Town on loan for the rest of the season.
International career In February 2022 Alves represented the England under-17 team against Scotland.
On 21 September 2022, he made his England U18 debut as a substitute during a 1–0 win over Netherlands at the Pinatar Arena.
On 7 June 2024, Alves made a goalscoring debut for the England U20s during a 2-1 win over Sweden at Stadion ŠRC Sesvete.
Personal life Born in England, Alves is of Portuguese descent. In 2018, while he was a Year 9 pupil at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, Alves won the MOTD "Can You Kick It" competition to find the UK's best young technical freestyle footballer.
Career statistics
Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueFA CupEFL CupEuropeOtherTotal DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsLeicester City U212021–22————30302022–23————31312023–24————1010Total————7171Leicester City2021–22Premier League0010000000102022–23Premier League000010——102023–24Championship000000——002024–25Premier League100020——302025–26Championship000010——102026–27League One410020—0061Total5110600000121Cardiff City (loan)2024–25Championship1411000——151Huddersfield Town (loan)2025–26League One1210000—31152Career total303206000102485
References
External links