Matheus Sousa de Jesus (born 10 April 1997), known as Matheus Jesus, is a Brazilian

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

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

J2 League The or simply J2 is the second division of the and the second level of the Japanese association football league system. The top tier is represented by the J1 League. It (along with the rest of the J.League) is currently sponsored by Meiji Yas ...

club,

V-Varen Nagasaki is a Japanese J2 League football club based in Nagasaki. The club was established in 1985 as Ariake SC till they merged with Kunimi FC in 2004 and adopted the present name in 2005. The club gained promotion into the J. League Division 2 in 20 ...

Club career

Ponte Preta

Born in

Salvador, Bahia Salvador (English: ''Savior'') is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine ...

, Matheus Jesus joined Ponte Preta's youth setup in 2015, after being released by

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...

. Promoted to the former's main squad in January 2016 by manager Eduardo Baptista, he made his senior debut on 5 May by starting in a 1–0

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil ( en, Brazil Cup) is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de ...

away win against

Genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

. Matheus Jesus scored his first senior goal on 13 May 2016, netting the first in a 3–0 home win against Genus. Two days later he made his Série A debut by starting in a 0–0 away draw against

Figueirense Figueirense Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Figueirense, is a Brazilian professional club based in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina founded on 12 June 1921. It competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third tier of Brazilian ...

, and extended his contract until December 2020 on 18 May. Matheus Jesus finished his first season with 24 league appearances, as his side finished eighth and just four points shy of a

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...

qualification. His good performances drew interest from clubs across Europe, including

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

. After featuring regularly in

2017 Campeonato Paulista The 2017 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 116th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams are drawn, with seeding, into four groups o ...

, which his side finished second, Matheus Jesus was separated from the first team squad in May 2017, due to an "indiscipline problem".

Estoril

On 28 June 2017, Matheus Jesus signed a five-year contract with

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, ...

side

G.D. Estoril Praia Grupo Desportivo Estoril Praia (), commonly known as Estoril, is a Portuguese sports club from Estoril, Cascais, Lisbon. Founded on 17 May 1939, its football team currently plays in Primeira Liga and hold home games at the Estádio António Coimb ...

. Initially linked to a loan move to

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

, the deal later collapsed.

Santos (loan)

On 18 July 2017, Matheus Jesus joined Santos on loan until December 2018. A backup to Alison and

Renato Renatus is a first name of Latin origin which means " born again" (natus = born). In Italian, Portuguese and Spanish it exists in masculine and feminine forms: Renato and Renata. In French they have been translated to René and Renée. Renata is ...

, he only featured in 14 matches for the club.

Gamba Osaka (loan)

On 7 March 2018, it was announced that Matheus Jesus would join Japanese side

Gamba Osaka is a Japanese professional football club based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The club's name ''Gamba'' comes from the Japanese , meaning "to do your best" or "to st ...

on loan from Santos for the 2018 season where he would be coached by his compatriot

Levir Culpi Levir Culpi (born 28 February 1953) is a Brazilian professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. Playing career Known as Levir during his playing days, he was born in Curitiba, Paraná, and started his career with ...

. On 13 August 2018, his loan was cancelled.

Portimonense (loan)

On 31 August 2018, Matheus Jesus joined Portuguese side

Portimonense Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. It al ...

on loan for the campaign. He would only appear in one match for the club before leaving in December.

Oeste (loan)

On 7 January 2019, Matheus Jesus was announced as one of Oeste's 17 signings for the 2019 season. He impressed during his time at ''Rubrão'', scoring six goals and being the club's top goalscorer (and the second overall) in the

2019 Campeonato Paulista The 2019 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 118th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams were drawn, with seeding, into four groups ...

Corinthians (loan)

On 9 May 2019, Matheus Jesus agreed to a loan contract with

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

until December, with a fixed buyout clause and an arranged permanent deal until 2023.

V-Varen Nagasaki

On 17 August 2023, it was announced that Matheus Jesus signs with

International career

Matheus Jesus made one appearance for the Brazil under-20 side in 2016, replacing Caio Henrique after 75 minutes in a friendly against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jesus, Matheus 1997 births Living people Footballers from Salvador, Bahia Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série B players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Santos FC players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Red Bull Bragantino players G.D. Estoril Praia players Gamba Osaka players Portimonense S.C. players Oeste Futebol Clube players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Japan