Jefferson de Jesus Santos (born 14 April 1993), known simply as Jefferson, is a Brazilian 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 for

Iporá Esporte Clube Iporá Esporte Clube, usually known simply as Iporá, is a Brazilian football club from Iporá, Goiás. History Founded on 1 January 2000, Iporá immediately joined Campeonato Goiano's second tier and ceased activity after suffering relegation i ...

as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Early years and Portugal

Born in

Goiânia Goiânia (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Goiás. With a population of 1,536,097, it is the second-largest city in the Central-West Region and the 10th-largest in the country. Its metropolitan area has a population ...

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian state located in the Center-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Mato Grosso. The state capital is Goiânia. ...

, Jefferson finished his youth career with Associação Atlética Ponte Preta. He made his senior debut in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, starting out at

third division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

G.D. Ribeirão Grupo Desportivo de Ribeirão, known as Ribeirão, is a Portuguese football club based in Ribeirão, Vila Nova de Famalicão, Braga District. Founded in 1968, it currently plays in the Portuguese Third Division Portuguese may refer to: * anythin ...

. In the January 2014

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

, Jefferson signed with

C.D. Santa Clara Clube Desportivo Santa Clara is a Portuguese football club from Ponta Delgada, Azores. They play in the 13,277-seat Estádio de São Miguel. They are the most successful football team from the Azores Islands as the only team from the archipelag ...

in the Segunda Liga. He played his first match as a professional on 16 March, starting but being booked and replaced in the 31st minute of an eventual 3–1 away loss against

F.C. Penafiel Futebol Clube de Penafiel ( or ) is a Portuguese Association football, football club founded on 8 February 1951 and based in the city of Penafiel, Portugal, Penafiel. Brief history Penafiel first reached the Portuguese Liga, first division in Po ...

, as he risked being sent off. Jefferson continued competing at that level in the following seasons, with

Leixões S.C. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known as Leixões (), is a Portuguese sports club from Matosinhos. It is organised into several departments for many sports, such as football, boxing, karate, volleyball, swimming and billiards. It is most well kno ...

and

C.D. Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chair ...

. He annulled his one-year contract with the former side in June 2014, claiming personal reasons.

Hajduk Split

During his spell in Portugal, Jefferson was scouted by the director of football of

HNK Hajduk Split Hrvatski nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split () or simply Hajduk, is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, t ...

Goran Vučević Goran Vučević (born 18 May 1971) is a Croatian former professional footballer who played as a central midfielder. He spent most of his professional career with Hajduk Split (in several capacities, including player and manager) and Barcelona ( ...

. He joined the

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n team in June 2015, but was unable to sign or train with them until his contract with Feirense ran out, making him miss out on training camp in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He made his competitive debut on 12 July, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw at

GNK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

, gathering praise from the media for his performance and being named

Player of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

by '' Jutarnji list'' for his role in neutralising opposing player

Ante Ćorić Ante Ćorić (; born 14 April 1997) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Serie A club Roma. He has also represented the Croatia national team. Club career Early years Ćorić started playing football a ...

. On 23 July 2015, Jefferson scored from longe-range in a 4–1 home win over

FC Koper Football Club Koper, commonly referred to as FC Koper or simply Koper, is a Slovenian football club based in Koper that competes in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, the top flight of Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football. The club was founded in 1920. ...

in the second qualifying round of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. He was the most utilised player for the team during the season, and arguably and the best in his position since

Josip Radošević Josip Radošević (; born 3 April 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Danish Superliga club Brøndby IF. Club career Hajduk Split Radošević started his career playing at youth level for his hom ...

, being praised for his tackling skills but also criticised for his passing. On 10 April 2016, in a home game against

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 ( en, Istra 1961 Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Istra 1961, or simply Istra 1961 or Istra, is a Croatian professional football club from Pula, currently playing in the Croatian First League. It is a common ...

, he was made

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the last minutes, thus becoming the first Brazilian in Hajduk history to sport the armband.

Chaves

Jefferson returned to Portugal in the 2017 off-season, signing a three-year contract with

G.D. Chaves Grupo Desportivo de Chaves, commonly known as Chaves (), is a Portuguese association football, football football team, club from Chaves, Portugal, Chaves currently playing in the Primeira Liga. They were founded in 1949 and currently play at Está ...

. He finished his first season in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

with 26 appearances, helping to a sixth-place finish.COMENTÁRIO: Chaves garante sexto lugar após reviravolta em casa do Aves (COMMENTARY: Chaves confirm sixth place after coming from behind at Aves)
Diário de Notícias, 11 May 2018 (in Portuguese)

References

External links

Hajduk official profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson 1993 births Living people Sportspeople from Goiânia Brazilian footballers Association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série D players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players G.D. Ribeirão players C.D. Santa Clara players Leixões S.C. players C.D. Feirense players G.D. Chaves players U.D. Vilafranquense players Croatian Football League players HNK Hajduk Split players Saudi First Division League players Al-Jabalain FC players Brazilian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Croatia Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia