Luis Miguel Afonso Fernandes or simply known as Pizzi is a professional football player who plays as a central midfielder and occasionally as a winger for Portugal national football team and for his current club, Portuguese football club, SL Benfica.
Apart from playing for various Portuguese football sides, he has played for Spanish clubs like Atletico Madrid, Deportivo La Coruna, and Espanyol and has been representing Portuguese national team since 2012.
Pizzi of Portuguese nationality was born to Portuguese parents on 6 October 1989 in Braganca, Portugal and was passionate about football since his early childhood days. He joined the Portuguese youth clubs of GD Braganca and SC Barga to start his football journey.
Pizzi makes an annual salary of around $ 1.2 million with a weekly salary of 23,582 from playing for SL Benfica and his market worth is estimated to be $ 24 million. His annual salary in 2017 was reported to be $600,889.
Looking at his career and playing for several European clubs and his national team of Portugal along with endorsement and his assets, his net worth could be assumed to be around $3 million.
With the amount of money he has earned through football, he is enjoying a relaxed lifestyle and can be seen hanging in the most luxurious of places.
Pizzi started his professional career by playing with the senior team of Braganca in 2007 and then signed with Barga. He was transferred to clubs such as Ribeirao, Covilha, FC Pacos de Ferreira and Atletico Madrid as a loan during that time.
He was brought permanently by Atletico Madrid on October 2011 for a reported transfer fee of $ 16.76 million from Barga and made his La Liga debut against Racing de Santander on 18 September 2011 and scored his first goal for the Spanish side against Vicente Calderon Stadium on 20 November 2011.
Pizzi was the part of a successful team of Atletico Madrid that won UEFA Europa League in 2011/12.
He is currently playing for SL Benfica, along with his Portuguese teammate Eliseu, whom he signed a six-year deal worth $ 7.45 million on 26 July 2013 and was instantly loaned to the Spanish club, Espanyol during 2013/14 season.
After returning to Benfica in 2014, he switched his roles from playing as a winger to the central midfielder and made his debut for Benfica in the Primeira league against Arouca on 5 October 2014.
He scored his first goal for the club against Arouca on 14 January 2015. His impressive performance enabled him to win Player of the Season in the Primera Liga for the year 2017.
Pizzi met with an unfortunate incident as he was attacked by a Porto fan during the game against Porto on 1 December 2017. The Porto club was penalized for the action.
After representing the Portuguese side in U19, U21 and U23 teams, he made his international debut for senior Portugal team against Gabon and scored his first goal for Portugal against Gabon on 14 November 2012.
He was the part of Portugal squad alongside Jose Fonte and Nani led by Cristiano Ronaldo that played in 2017 FIFA Confederation Cup in Russia that finished in the third place in the tournament.
Pizzi who stands at 5 feet 9 inches long is married to his wife, Maria De Barros on June 4, 2017. The ceremony organized in a farm near Alenquer was attended by several fellow football players such as Simão Sabrosa, Rafa Silva, André Horta, Renato Sanches and Gonçalo Guedes.
The couple dated for about a decade before getting married. The couple has a son named Afonso who was already a year old during their wedding. The child born on April 26, 2016, was named after Pizzi's grandfather.
