Charles

Charles Rigon Matos took the long route to São Paulo. He came through the academy at Santo Ângelo before Internacional signed him in 2017, and it was there, in the top flight of Brazilian football, that he first made his mark as a defensive midfielder, appearing 37 times and scoring twice for the club.

A loan to Sport Recife in 2019 brought his first piece of silverware, the Campeonato Pernambucano. Corinthians moved that same year to buy half of his rights from Internacional, but rather than heading straight to São Paulo, Charles went to Ceará instead, where he stayed until 2021 and won the Copa do Nordeste in 2020.

From there the path led to Denmark. Midtjylland signed him in 2021 on a deal that ran to 2026, and it was in Scandinavian football that he spent the middle years of his career before eventually returning to Corinthians, the club that had held a stake in him for years without ever fielding him.

The move paid off quickly. In the 2025 season Charles won the Campeonato Paulista and the Copa do Brasil with Corinthians, adding the trophies that had eluded him during his first, aborted attempt to join the club. He now wears number 35 for the São Paulo side, operating as a right-footed midfielder in front of the back four.