Nino

Recife shaped his footballing start, but it was in the south, at Criciúma, that Nino built his career, making his senior debut in the Campeonato Catarinense in 2016 before a loan to Fluminense in 2019 turned into a permanent deal by the end of that year. He grew into the armband there, leading the side out in 239 matches and scoring 12 goals.

The trophies followed once he had established himself as captain. Nino lifted the Copa Libertadores with Fluminense in 2023 and added back-to-back Campeonato Carioca titles in 2022 and 2023. On the international stage, he started in the final as Brazil's under-23 side won Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 Games, and in 2024 his club form earned him a nomination for the FIFA Best Men's Player award in the defender category.

That form also caught the attention of Zenit Saint Petersburg, who paid a lump sum of 5 million euros to sign him in January 2024, seeing off interest from Nottingham Forest in the process. Nino signed through to 2028 and wasted little time adding to his medal collection, winning the Russian Premier League in his first season and following it up with the Russian Cup. He has since added a second league title and a Russian Super Cup, continuing a run of silverware that has followed him from Rio de Janeiro to Saint Petersburg.