Jhonata Varela da Silva

Jhonata Varela da Silva came through the academy of ABC in his home city of Natal, making his senior debut there in 2017 across the Campeonato Potiguar, Copa do Nordeste and Série B. The same year he moved into Grêmio's youth ranks, and the defensive midfielder spent six seasons at the club, breaking into the first team in 2020. His spell there brought the Campeonato Gaúcho in 2021 and back-to-back Recopa Gaúcha titles in 2021 and 2022, along with the Aspirantes (Sub-20) Brasileirão in 2021; he scored his first senior goal in the 2022 Recopa Gaúcha final. Across his time at Grêmio he made 12 first-team appearances, including outings in the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sul-Americana in 2021, and in 2019 he trained with Brazil's senior national team, though a full cap has not followed.

Varela left Grêmio for Sampaio Corrêa ahead of the 2024 season, appearing 13 times. He then joined São José-RS in 2025, where he was a regular over two seasons, playing 34 matches and scoring once. In November 2025 he signed for Botafogo-PB ahead of the 2026 campaign, making 32 appearances in his first season across the Série C, Campeonato Paraibano, Copa do Nordeste and Copa do Brasil.

Right-footed and built for the holding role, he has moved through Brazil's football pyramid steadily rather than in one dramatic leap, with his Recopa Gaúcha goal for Grêmio standing as the clearest highlight of his career so far.