Lucas Cardoso

Poxoréu is not a name that comes up often in Brazilian football, but it is where Lucas Cardoso started out before working his way through the academy at União Rondonópolis. From there the path ran through Operário VG and into Cuiabá, the club that has anchored his career even as loan spells scattered him across the country.

Those loans tell their own story. Santo André, Botafogo-SP twice, then Grêmio Novorizontino and finally Náutico, where he had a hand in the club's promotion to Série B.

That changed in February 2026, when Paysandu made the move permanent, signing Cardoso outright on a deal running through the end of the year. The transfer fee was not disclosed. At Paysandu, under head coach Junior Rocha, he has worn the number 99 shirt and settled into the side quickly, contributing two goals in 20 appearances and picking up three titles with the club so far.

An attacking midfielder by trade, right-footed and physically imposing at 189cm, Cardoso arrived at Paysandu with a career built more on movement between clubs than on a single defining stop.