Wendell

Wendell's move to São Paulo in January 2025 was as much about a colleague as about himself: the free transfer, agreed after his contract at Porto was terminated by mutual consent, was facilitated by São Paulo selling the young forward William Gomes to the Portuguese club. He signed through December 2027.

He left Brazil young, working his way up through Iraty, Londrina and a loan at Paraná before a spell at Grêmio, where he won the Campeonato Paranaense and was named the competition's best left-back in 2013, then took the same individual award in the Campeonato Gaúcho the following year. Those performances earned him a move to Bayer Leverkusen in 2014, where he stayed for seven years, made 186 appearances and reached the 2020 DFB-Pokal final.

At Porto from 2021, Wendell became a fixture of a side that collected trophies: the Primeira Liga in 2021-22, three Taça de Portugal titles in successive seasons, a Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and a Taça da Liga. That sustained run of success abroad eventually brought international recognition long after his youth days, when he had already won the Toulon Tournament and the International Tournament of China with Brazil's under-20 and under-23 sides. His senior debut came only in March 2024, in a 1-0 win over England, and he has since earned six caps.

At São Paulo, he arrives as a left-back.