Tomás Händel

Tomás Romano Pereira Santos Händel (born 27 November 2000) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Vitória de Guimarães.

Club career
Born in Guimarães of Austrian descent through his grandmother, Händel was a youth player at local clubs Moreirense F.C. and Vitória de Guimarães. He signed his first professional contract with the latter on 27 March 2019, lasting until 2023 and with a buyout clause of €15 million; on 24 June 2021, having started his senior career with the reserve team in the third division he extended the link to 2026 and increased the clause to €50 million. He made his competitive debut with the main squad on 26 July, in a 4–1 home win against Leixões S.C. in the first round of the Taça da Liga where he played the full 90 minutes. His first Primeira Liga appearance took place on 22 August, the entirety of a 4–0 victory over F.C. Vizela also at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques.

Händel suffered a left thigh injury in February 2022, ruling him out of the rest of the season and the start of the next. After two games back in the reserves, he made his comeback on 18 March 2023 as a substitute in a 5–1 loss at S.L. Benfica. On 14 May he scored his first goal for the first team as the only at Rio Ave F.C. to guarantee a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League with two fixtures remaining.

International career
Händel was called up to the Portugal under-19 team in February 2019, but was not capped until playing three games for the under-21s in late 2021, starting in a 1–0 win over Belarus for the 2023 UEFA European Championship qualifiers in Amadora on 6 September.