Luis ‘Duk’ Lopes: Aberdeen’s quiet underdog who ‘always’ scores

For most of his life, Luis Henrique Barros Lopes – or Duk for short – was underestimated.

The 23-year-old from Cape Verde, written off by Sporting Lisbon because of his size and then allowed to leave Benfica, is an understatement in every way.

Those who know him say he says very little and his relatively small stature means he has no obvious presence on or off the field.

Yet he scored goals all over Portugal as a youngster and now has 13 for Aberdeen this season and has quickly become a cult figure in Pittodrie with his own signature vocals.

From the streets of Lisbon to his sacking from Sporting and his goals for Benfica in his youth, this is Duk’s story.

Born in Cape Verde, Duk, who took his father’s nickname, moved to Portugal with his parents while he was in primary school. He was picked up by Sporting at the age of 12 but was dismissed, mainly because of his height having played at centre-back.

He ended up joining a small club in Lisbon, Montelavarenses. There he was spotted by Roberto Roja, a coach who is now looking after the player.

Roja founded a new U15 team in Lisbon and was looking for players.

“I spoke to my friends at Sporting and Benfica, who have the best players, and asked them to recommend who would be good for my team,” Roja told BBC Scotland.

“One of them said there is this boy in Montelavarenses, the smallest club you can imagine. He was good but he was sacked by Sporting so I sent someone to scout him.

“When he got there he was the best player on the pitch and top scorer – he had scored 49 goals this season, which is not normal even for a small club. So we invited him to come and be with us train.”

Duk didn’t make an immediate impression. Again his size held him back. But in his final training session before Roja and his staff made a decision on whether to keep him, he stepped up.

“He had that moment when there was a free-kick and I said, ‘Duk, if you want, take the free-kick’ to see what he can do,” Roja recalled.

“He takes the free-kick and puts the ball in the corner. Very strong, powerful to come off a very small kid was not normal. It wasn’t his strength but his technique that got the ball there.”

He was signed and has never looked back. Having joined the team with a hat-trick in the 3-0 win against Porto, he finished as the U15’s top scorer this season, unusual for a player outside of the big three – Benfica, Sporting and Porto.

Roja encouraged Sporting to sign him at the end of that campaign but they fired him again for being too small. He signed with Belenenses and scored another 20 goals in 13 games.

Now Sporting got interested along with Benfica after Duk scored twice in the 2-2 draw against them. The Lisbon giants both offered £50,000 despite him being available for free at the end of the season.

“He was a central defender at Sporting for two years but has scored more goals than the forward. That’s why he didn’t want to go to Sporting and Benfica was a good and new chance,” explains Roja.

“He was at Benfica for five and a half years and was the U19’s top scorer. We have two phases in Portugal and he was the top scorer in the south.” [PSV Eindhoven loanee] Fabio Silva was top scorer in the North.

“And then top scorer in the U23s. In his youth he was top scorer in Portugal three times. But he didn’t have the opportunity to go into the first team at Benfica, so many offers came like Aberdeen. “

Duk was not a regular starter for Benfica B – the club that has produced the likes of Joao Felix and Goncalo Ramos offer tough competition – but scored eight for them last season despite just six starts.

Size mattered again, with Benfica often favoring a number nine with more presence. Another weakness against him – despite his excellent finish – is his passing game and his game is still raw all around.

He has lost the ball more per 90 minutes than all but one player in the Premier League this season, of those who have played at least 15 games.

That’s partly because he dribbles a lot and tries things out. But he is not always present in games either. He can get in and out.

He was initially not selected to start at Aberdeen, despite scoring three goals from the bench. After a sobering 4-0 defeat by Dundee United in October, he earned a spot against Hearts and scored one goal and set up the other in a 2-0 win.

Duk has started every game since then and added another 10 goals, all different types. Among the 13 were headers against Hibernian and Motherwell, an overhead shot against Ross County, a free kick in the loss to Rangers. And the backheel finish on the run against United last time out.

It means clubs are now sniffing around the Aberdeen striker, who prefers to keep a low profile.

“He doesn’t speak much,” says Roja. “In the dressing room he was the last to speak and from time to time he would say a joke or something and everyone would laugh because you never heard him.

“I told him he was an outsider. Because nobody expects him to be the top scorer, but slowly he always does. All the time I’ve known him.”