His story so far is very well known. He was born on December 24, 2000 in Lisbon. From an early age he was interested in football, and so he ended up at the Benfica youth academy. His evolution was rapid. A midfielder who is at ease playing in any position in the center, he is also fast, versatile and has a wide range of passing, as well as a characteristic seriousness and maturity beyond his years.

In August 2018 he made his professional debut with Benfica’s second string, while one-and-a-half years later, he played for the first team in a match against Vitoria Setubal in the Portuguese Cup.

At the same time, he managed to rack up 49 appearances with Benfica B, scoring five goals and contributing six assists. He was, in fact, a key protagonist in the Under-19 team’s run to the final of the UEFA Youth League in the 2018-19 season, making 16 appearances, scoring six goals and serving up two assists. This was a performance that saw him called up to the Portugal youth teams, and which have seen him given him the captain’s armband of the Under-21 national team.

Thiago Dantas has piqued the interest of some of the biggest clubs in Europe. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City were close to signing him, but eventually the young midfielder decided to move elsewhere for the next stage of his career.

In October 2020 he moved to Germany and Bayern Munich. A fervent admirer of his was the then coach Hansi Flick, who gave Dantas seven games for the second team, while he also wore a first-team jersey twice, with the end of the season seeing him crowned a league title winner in Germany.

The people of Bayern, however, decided not to pay the buy out clause option and the player returned to Benfica, where he was then loaned to Tondela. There, he chalked up his first full professional season, scoring four goals and producing two assists in 34 appearances, also being one of the top midfielders in the league.

PAOK has been following his progress for the last few months and has reached an agreement for his loan.