Marcelo

Marcelo dos Santos Ferreira arrived at União de Leiria in January 2026, taking the number 44 shirt. Born in Rio de Janeiro, the central defender started out with Vasco da Gama before crossing to Portugal in 2010, where he settled first at Ribeirão and then, from 2011, at Rio Ave. A season away on loan at Leixões interrupted that spell, but he returned to Rio Ave and stayed until 2018, making over 170 league appearances and playing in the UEFA Europa League along the way.

That run earned him a move to Sporting CP in May 2018. He featured only once in the league for the Lisbon club, but he was part of the squad that won both the Taça de Portugal and the Taça da Liga in the 2018–19 season, with the cup final against Porto settled 3–1 on penalties after a 1–1 draw. Sporting sold him on to Chicago Fire in December 2018 for a fee of €500,000, and he spent the 2019 and 2020 MLS seasons in the United States.

He returned to Portugal with Paços de Ferreira before spells further afield at Al-Tai in Saudi Arabia and Dibba Al Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates. His most recent settled stretch came at Moreirense, where across three seasons from 2023 he scored four goals in 71 appearances. Marcelo, who holds Portuguese nationality alongside his Brazilian one.