Paulinho

Paulinho came through Santo André, where loan spells took him around the domestic game — including a stint at Santos without a single first-team appearance, then a more productive loan at Boa Esporte, where he scored twice in 44 matches. A brief loan at São Bento in Série B followed before Bahia signed him permanently in August 2018.

His time at Bahia was short. In July 2019, FC Midtjylland paid around €700,000 for his economic rights, with Bahia retaining a share, and Paulinho moved to the Danish Superliga. It proved the defining transfer of his career: he became a regular starter for the club, going on to make 149 league appearances and score five goals. He won the Superliga title with Midtjylland in his first season, 2019–20, and later added the Danish Cup in 2025–26.

Domestically in Brazil, his honours had come earlier — the Campeonato Paulista Série A2 with Santo André in 2016, the Copa Paulista with the same club in 2014, and the Campeonato Baiano with Bahia in 2019.

In 2026, after his Midtjylland contract ran down, Paulinho joined Botafogo. The move was initially described as a free transfer, though reports from GE/Globo and TransferFeed suggested Midtjylland had sought around €500,000 in compensation for releasing him early, a fee Botafogo negotiated before the deal went through. He has not been capped by Brazil's senior national team.