Miguel Areias

Miguel Alexandre Areias Lopes (born 2 June 1977 in Porto), known as Areias, is a Portuguese retired footballer who played mainly as a left back.

After establishing himself as a professional player with S.C. Beira-Mar, Areias joined Primeira Liga club FC Porto for the 2004–05 season but, after being rarely used, he was consecutively loaned for the duration of his contract: Boavista FC, Standard Liège (where he teamed up with former Portuguese internationals Sérgio Conceição and Ricardo Sá Pinto) and Celta de Vigo; arrived in January 2007 at the latter, he only managed one La Liga appearance during his short spell, a 0–2 home loss against RCD Espanyol.

Released, Areias signed with C.F. Os Belenenses on a free transfer, in the 2007–08 campaign. Unsettled, he switched the following year to newly promoted C.D. Trofense, also in the top division: after appearing rarely as the Lisbon side finished eighth, he could not help prevent the northern newcomers from being relegated in their first season ever.

In the 2010 summer, after one year out of football, 33-year-old Areias signed with Leixões S.C. in the second division. He left at the end of the season, having appeared in less than one third of the league games for the Matosinhos-based team.