Gianni Miguel dos Santos (born 21 November 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for I-League club

Inter Kashi Inter Kashi is an Indian professional football club based in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The club currently competes in the I-League, the second tier league of the Indian football league system. It is the first professional club from the state of ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Cape Verde national team.

Club career

Dos Santos made his professional debut on 22 December 2017 for

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

in the Eerste Divisie, in the 2–3 home loss to

Jong PSV Jong PSV is a Dutch football team based in Eindhoven. It is the reserve team of PSV Eindhoven and plays in the Eerste Divisie since the 2013–14 season. History Until 2013, Jong PSV played in the Beloften Eredivisie, a league exclusively for ...

. He came on as a substitute for Denis Mahmudov in the 69th minute. In the summer of 2018, he left for

Jong Sparta Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently compete in the Eredivisie, the top flight ...

, where he played in the third-tier

Tweede Divisie Tweede Divisie ( en, Second Division) is the highest amateur (and historically the lowest professional) football league in the Netherlands. It was established in 1956, together with the Eredivisie and the Eerste Divisie. Between 1956 and 1960 and b ...

. He made his debut in the first team of Sparta on 18 November 2018, in the 1–1 away draw against NEC. He came on for Ilias Alhaft in the 67th minute. In October 2020, Dos Santos returned to Dordrecht. He immediately impressed in his first match back, scoring and giving an assist in the 2–2 draw against

Almere City Almere City Football Club is a Dutch professional Association football, football club based in Almere, Flevoland. Founded in 2001, plays in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and hosts home matches ...

, as he was rewarded with the 'man of the match' award afterwards. Head coach of Dordrecht, Harry van den Ham, called Dos Santos a "diamond in the rough" after his performance against Almere City and lauded his pace and threat in front of goal. On 20 May 2021, Dos Santos signed with Canadian Premier League club Pacific FC. Dos Santos is the third international player to sign with Pacific FC for the 2021 season. In February 2023, he signed with fellow CPL side Atlético Ottawa on a two-year contract. On 1 January 2024, Dos Santos joined I-League club

for an undisclosed fee. On 4 February 2024, he scored first goal in his season debut against

Shillong Lajong Shillong Lajong FC (founded as Lajong SC) is an Indian professional football club based in Shillong, Meghalaya, that competes in the Shillong Premier League. The club was established in 1983 with the prime objective of improving the declining st ...

International career

In March 2020, dos Santos was called up to

Cape Verde , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. He was called up again in June 2022 for a friendly against Ecuador in Miami. He made his debut for his country in the match on 11 June, as a second-half substitute in an eventual 1–0 defeat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Gianni 1998 births Living people Men's association football forwards Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch people of Cape Verdean descent Dutch men's footballers Cape Verdean men's footballers FC Dordrecht players Sparta Rotterdam players Pacific FC players Atlético Ottawa players Inter Kashi FC players Eerste Divisie players Tweede Divisie players Canadian Premier League players I-League players Cape Verde men's international footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Cape Verdean expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Canada Cape Verdean expatriate sportspeople in Canada Expatriate men's footballers in India Dutch expatriate sportspeople in India Cape Verdean expatriates in India