[3][4][5] Carvalho began his career at Porto, where he had loan spells at Leça, Vitória de Setúbal and Alverca, before winning domestic and European trophies under José Mourinho's management.

[11] With José Mourinho in charge, Carvalho started the campaign as the third option behind Costa and Pedro Emanuel,[12] but later, his excellent form led him to a place in the first team,[13] appearing in the most important games of the season, including the UEFA cup semi-finals matches against Lazio and the UEFA Cup final where Porto beat Celtic 3–2 in extra time.

At the end of the season, Carvalho has been tracked by a host of top European clubs, including Internazionale, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United.

[18][19] At Stamford Bridge, Carvalho, who was considered one of the best centre-backs at Euro 2004, joined his former manager José Mourinho and former teammate Paulo Ferreira[20] on a three-year contract.

[22] His partnership with captain John Terry in central defence was hailed as a major factor behind Chelsea's two Premier League titles in a row.

On 19 October 2005, he scored his first goal of the season in a 4–0 home win against Real Betis in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

[28] Later, on 29 April 2006, he scored again a goal, his third of the season, in a 3–0 Premier League victory over Manchester United, finishing off a move he had started on the edge of his own penalty area by smashing the ball into the net, to help Chelsea clinch the title for the second consecutive year.

[29] In the 2006–07 season, Carvalho scored again against Manchester United an important goal in a 1–1 draw – a header from a Frank Lampard corner that also bounced off Louis Saha's head.

[30] On 7 April, he scored another goal against Tottenham Hotspur, firing a low, 30-yard drive past the reach of Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson; as a result Chelsea narrowed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to three points.

[34] He also missed the FA Cup final against Manchester United, which Chelsea won after a goal from Didier Drogba during extra time.

On 26 December 2007, in a 4–4 home draw against Aston Villa, on the 79th minute, the home side were outmanoeuvred in the middle of the field leaving only goalkeeper Petr Čech and Carvalho between Villa's striker, Gabriel Agbonlahor, and the goal, Carvalho attempted the block, went in two-footed and was red carded for the foul,[41] in the same night, he issued a public apology for his horror tackle on the forward.

[43][44] Later, on 26 April, Carvalho made his 100th appearance in the Premier League against Manchester United, despite Chelsea's 2–1 win, he marred his centenary mark with an error that allowed Wayne Rooney to equalise.

[48] He was a somewhat peripheral figure for the rest of the season, as injury, the sacking of Luiz Felipe Scolari, and subsequent appointment of Guus Hiddink meant that he lost his place in the team to Brazilian teammate Alex.

Chelsea got off to a terrible start conceding inside 10 minutes, but second-half goals from Carvalho and Frank Lampard looked enough to pull the team back from behind to win the trophy, only for Wayne Rooney to clip home an equaliser in stoppage time, forcing penalties.

[56] On 24 March, in a 5–0 win over Portsmouth,[57] Carvalho suffered ankle ligament damage; it seemed serious but it was not necessary a corrective surgery on this injury, leaving the team with just two first-choice central defenders in Alex and captain John Terry,[58] and scaring the Portugal national team head coach, Carlos Queiroz, with the risk of not being able to go to 2010 FIFA World Cup.

[61] At the end of the season, on 24 July, The Sun carried reports that Carvalho had expressed his desire to leave Chelsea and link up with former manager José Mourinho, who was now in charge at Real Madrid in Spain.

[63] His La Liga debut came on 29 August, in a 0–0 draw against Mallorca,[64] and, in the following match, against Osasuna, he scored his first Liga goal; Mesut Özil raced to the penalty area and managed to thread a low cross for Cristiano Ronaldo, whose first time shot was blocked by the Osasuna's goalkeeper Ricardo, but the Portuguese managed to tip-toe the rebound for Carvalho to score the go-ahead goal, giving his team a 1–0 home victory.

[65] On 19 October 2010, in a UEFA Champions League victory against Milan, Carvalho was named the Man of the match by the Spanish newspaper Marca.

[66] Some weeks later, on 7 November, Carvalho proved again to be in good shape in a 2–0 derby victory against Atlético Madrid, where he scored his second goal in La Liga, being named again the man of the match.

[69] Carvalho made 48 appearances in all competitions that season, bringing calmness and solidness to the defence, and was a heavy reason why Real Madrid had the best defense in Champions League, only letting five goals get past their goalkeeper.

He returned to action on 18 January in Real Madrid's 2–1 home defeat to Barcelona, in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals first leg at the Santiago Bernabéu.

There was significant speculation about his future with Real Madrid in the 2012–13 season, with manager José Mourinho publicly stating on 29 August 2012 that "his services were no longer needed" by the club.

[72] On 14 April 2015, he fouled Álvaro Morata to concede a penalty which was converted by Arturo Vidal as Monaco lost to Juventus in the first leg of the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

[80] Carvalho formed a strong partnership with Jorge Andrade in the Portuguese defence as his country reached the final, though they lost 1–0 to Greece in a stunning upset.

During the quarter-final game against England, referee Horacio Elizondo adjudged Wayne Rooney to have trodden on Carvalho's groin, right in front of him, and the English player was sent off for violent conduct.

[85] The English media, however, speculated that teammate Cristiano Ronaldo had influenced Elizondo's decision by aggressively complaining, after which he was seen in replays winking at the Portuguese bench following Rooney’s dismissal.

[92] On 3 October 2014, after an absence of more than three years, Carvalho was called up by newly appointed Portugal manager Fernando Santos, for the friendly against France and the Euro 2016 qualifying match against Denmark.

[103] As such throughout his career, he was often paired with a more physical centre-back, such as his defensive partner at Chelsea, John Terry, whose powerful and aggressive playing style was complemented by Carvalho's mobility, technique, intelligence, speed of thought, and ball–playing ability.

[102][104][105][106][107] Despite not being as tall as most centre-backs (1.83 m), Carvalho was also known for his ability to win aerial duels against larger, more physical opponents, as demonstrated by the three headed goals he scored against Manchester United with Rio Ferdinand (1.91 m) and Nemanja Vidić (1.90 m) in defence.