Arthur Caíke do Nascimento Cruz

Arthur Caíke made his senior debut at Iraty in 2010 before joining Londrina two years later. At Paraná in 2012 he finished as the top scorer in Série B, and the goals kept following him from club to club: twelve at Atlético Goianiense in 2015, a Campeonato Paranaense title at Coritiba, a Copa do Nordeste and Campeonato Pernambucano double at Santa Cruz, and a Campeonato Catarinense crown at Chapecoense.

It was Chapecoense who sold him abroad in 2018, to Pyramids FC in Egypt for an estimated €2.2 million. Within a month he was loaned to Al-Shabab in Saudi Arabia, where he later signed permanently and spent several seasons, including loan spells back home at Bahia, where he won the Campeonato Baiano, and at Cruzeiro.

His move to Kashima Antlers in January 2021 gave him 56 appearances and 16 goals in Japan. Beyond the goal tallies, Arthur Caíke led the national ranking in conversion rate between 2016 and 2020. He also reached a continental final with Chapecoense, finishing runner-up in the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana.

He returned to Brazilian football in 2024, turning out for Sport Recife — with whom he won the Campeonato Pernambucano — and Criciúma, before a spell at Goiás. He has never worn the Brazil shirt at any level, senior or youth, but the free-kicks and the loan-heavy path through the Brazilian leagues remain the throughline of his career.