Manuel dos Santos Fernandes

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Personal information
Manuel dos Santos
Full name	Manuel dos Santos Fernandes
Date of birth	March 28, 1974 (1974-03-28) (age 34)
Place of birth	Praia, Cape Verde
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10+¹⁄₂ in)
Playing position	Left Back
Club information
Current club	RC Strasbourg
Number	3
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1995-1997 1997-2000 2000-2004 2004-2006 2006-2007 2007-	Monaco Montpellier Marseille Benfica AS Monaco RC Strasbourg	22 (0) 94 (0) 98 (1) 24 (0) 40 (1) 18 (0)
National team²
	France U-21
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:07, 11 January 2008 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of July 26, 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Manuel dos Santos Fernandes (born 28 March 1974 in Praia, Cape Verde under Portuguese Empire) is a French football player. He was Portuguese national champion with Benfica in 2004-05. He will play the 2007-08 season with French club RC Strasbourg.

[edit] Career

Dos Santos was born in Cape Verde, one year before the island nation gained independence from Portugal. His family migrated to France, and he started his professional career at AS Monaco. He then played for Montpellier and Olympique de Marseille, where he spent four seasons.

In the summer of 2004, Portuguese giants Benfica bought him for an undisclosed fee, and he signed a three-year contract.

He played 21 games in the first season, but he just played 3 games in 2005-06, before returning to his first professional club, Monaco, where he replaced Patrice Evra at left-back, who had moved to Manchester United in January 2006. Dos Santos signed four two seasons. He played in 40 games for Monaco on those 18 months, but the club did not offer a new contract, and he was subsequently released.

In July 2007 he joined Strasbourg.