Felipe Rodrigues da Silva (born 30 June 2001), commonly known as Morato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Championship club West Ham United, on loan from Nottingham Forest.
Club career Born in Francisco Morato in the state of São Paulo, Morato was 18 when he moved from the youth ranks of São Paulo to Benfica in September 2019, on a contract lasting until 2024. The transfer fee was €6 million and the Brazilian club retained 15% of the rights to his next transfer.
Benfica On 22 September 2019, Morato made his professional debut for Benfica B in the LigaPro, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 loss at Leixões. He made his first-team debut on 21 December in the final game of the Taça da Liga group stage, again featuring for the entirety of a 2–2 draw at Vitória de Setúbal. In the same season, he played 10 games as the under-19 team came runners-up in the UEFA Youth League, scoring in a 3–2 group win at Olympique Lyonnais on 5 November.
On 27 September 2020, Morato scored his first professional goal to open a 2–1 loss for the reserves at Mafra; on 17 October he was sent off in a 1–0 loss away to Arouca. He made his Primeira Liga debut the following 30 April in a 2–0 win at Tondela, as an added-time substitute for Pizzi. On 23 May, he started in the 2021 Taça de Portugal Final, lost 2–0 to Braga in Coimbra; he had days earlier been told that he would be on the bench for that game.
Morato was given a run in the first team at the start of the 2021–22 season, due to injury to veteran Jan Vertonghen. He scored his first goal for them on 2 November, in the first half of a 5–2 loss at Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League group stage. The following season, under new manager Roger Schmidt, Morato earned a place in the starting eleven over Jan Vertoghen, and following a run of four consecutive wins and three clean sheets, he was named the Primeira Liga's Defender of the Month for August.
Nottingham Forest On 30 August 2024, Morato signed a five-year deal with Premier League side Nottingham Forest for a reported transfer fee of £12.6 million.
West Ham United (loan) On 1 September 2026, Morato joined EFL Championship club West Ham United on loan.
International career Morato was called up in November 2019 to the Brazil national under-20 football team, for games against Peru and Colombia.
Career statistics
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEurope OtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBenfica B2019–20LigaPro150————1502020–21LigaPro284————2842021–22Liga Portugal 230————302022–23Liga Portugal 210————10Total474————474Benfica2019–20Primeira Liga0000100000102020–21Primeira Liga2020000000402021–22Primeira Liga140204051—2512022–23Primeira Liga91203060—2012023–24Primeira Liga210503060003502024–25Primeira Liga10————10Total47111011017100862Nottingham Forest2024–25Premier League26030———2902025–26Premier League2111010140—371Total4714010140—661West Ham United (loan)2026–27Championship300011——41Career total1446150131311002038
Honours Benfica Primeira Liga: 2022–23 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2023
Individual Primeira Liga Defender of the Month: August 2022 UEFA Europa League Team of the Season: 2025–26
References
External links Profile at the S.L. Benfica website