Ignacio da Silva Oliveira

When Sporting Cristal came calling in January 2023, Ignácio was a defender who had spent his Brazilian career on the move — a spell at Santa Cruz, a loan to ASSU, a share of his rights sold to Bahia, then further loans to CSA and Chapecoense. In Peru he finally settled. He became captain, scored ten goals in all competitions across two seasons — an unusual return for a central defender — and one of them came against River Plate in the Copa Libertadores. Cristal named him their best player of the 2023 season.

That form took him back to Brazil. Fluminense paid around €2 million for 80% of his economic rights in July 2024, with Cristal keeping the remaining stake, and signed him until June 2028. He has had to fight for a starting place since arriving, and a thigh injury interrupted his 2026 campaign, but he has still made 14 appearances in the Brazilian Série A this season, scoring three goals and setting up another. He was also named Player of the Match in a Club World Cup fixture against Mamelodi Sundowns.

His route to that level began far from the spotlight, at Força e Luz, where he won the Campeonato Potiguar Segunda Divisão in 2017, and continued through two Campeonato Baiano titles with Bahia in 2019 and 2020 before the move abroad reshaped his career.