After starting professionally at local S.C. Salgueiros, he signed for fellow Primeira Liga club Sporting CP immediately after having helped the Portugal under-20s to win the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship, played in the country.
After three final solid seasons, where he made nearly 100 league appearances and scored two goals, he joined Aston Villa in summer 1996, under manager Brian Little.
[2] After two Premier League campaigns in the Midlands and 75 games in all competitions, in July 1998 Nélson moved to FC Porto – his first youth club – winning his only national championship in his debut season.
[5] Nélson won ten full caps for Portugal, making his debut on 3 June 1995 in a 3–2 home win against Latvia for the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers.
He too started his career – which spanned more than two decades, with teams in all levels of Portuguese football – with Porto (youth) and Salgueiros, and amassed top-tier totals of 204 games and one goal, mainly with C.S.