Willian Souza Arão da Silva

Willian Arão returned to Santos in 2025, thirteen years after leaving the club as a young defensive midfielder, closing a loop that had taken him through some of European football's biggest dressing rooms. Born in São Paulo, he came through Santos' ranks and made his name there before the club sold him to Barcelona.

At Barcelona the move carried real weight: reports at the time valued the deal at around 40 million euros, with add-ons pushing it towards 57 million, a substantial sum for a player leaving Brazilian football in his early twenties. He spent four seasons in Catalonia before Paris Saint-Germain paid what was described as a record fee of 222 million euros to bring him to the French capital in 2017, a transfer that stood out even by PSG's spending standards of that era.

He went on to spend six years in Paris, then joined Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia in 2023 as a free agent. That spell lasted two seasons before Santos brought him back, again on a free transfer, in July 2025. The Brazilian club presented him to supporters with club great Clodoaldo on hand for the occasion, and Arão spoke of the shirt as an honour to wear.

Now back at the club where his career began, he wears the number 15 shirt, a return that closes the circle on a path that took him from Santos' academy to two of the sport's most storied badges and back home again.