Wellington Pereira do Nascimento (born 22 April 1984), known as Wellington Paulista, is a Brazilian former

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 played 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 ...

Career

Born in São Paulo, he started as a youth team player with Juventus-SP. He gained experience while on loan to Mirassol, Paraná and Santos, where he scored nine goals in 30 games. This performance brought him to the attention of the Spanish Second Division club Deportivo Alavés. Moving to Spain in 2006, he remained with Alavés until December 2007, when he returned to his home country to sign with Botafogo. Paulista scored seven league goals in 28 appearances and was part of the Botafogo side that won the Rio Cup.

Cruzeiro

He signed a contract with Cruzeiro in 2009, and in the same year, scored 21 times in 38 appearances to help Cruzeiro finish fourth in Serie A and win the 2009 Minas Gerais State League. Five of his goals came in the

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 ...

, with Cruzeiro reaching

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, where they were beaten by Estudiantes. His haul of 10 goals in 30 appearances in 2010 helped Cruzeiro finish second in Serie A and reach the quarterfinals of Copa Libertadores. Loaned to

Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes. Palmeiras is one of the most popular clubs in South America, with around ...

in 2011, Paulista returned to Cruzeiro in 2012, scoring 28 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions before leaving for West Ham United on loan in 2013.

West Ham United

On 11 January 2013, he signed a six-month loan deal with West Ham United with an option for a further three years, becoming West Ham's fourth signing of the winter 2012–13 transfer window (following Joe Cole, Marouane Chamakh and Sean Maguire). About his move, Paulista said "I think I can do my best here and I am coming to England to prove to everyone that I am one of the best strikers in Brazil and to get better and better". Paulista was a named substitute for two of West Ham's games, against Southampton and Reading, but left the club without having made a first team appearance.

Return to Brazil: Criciúma and Internacional

Wellington Paulista came to Criciúma after leaving England. After this, he signed with the Brazilian football team Internacional, being announced as their new player on 26 December 2013, after rescinding with Cruzeiro.

Fortaleza

In March 2019, he signed a two-year contract with

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the t ...

Honours

;Botafogo *

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Port., Rio de Janeiro State Championship), was started in 1906 and is the annual football championship in the state of Rio de Janeiro, B ...

: 2008 ;Cruzeiro *

Campeonato Mineiro Campeonato Mineiro is the state football league of the state of Minas Gerais and is controlled by the Minas Gerais Football Federation FMF (Federação Mineira de Futebol). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: befor ...

: 2009,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

;Internacional * Campeonato Gaúcho:

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

;Chapecoense * Campeonato Catarinense: 2017 ;Fortaleza *

Campeonato Cearense The Campeonato Cearense is the football league of the state of Ceará, Brazil. Format The Campeonato Cearense has three divisions with the following division and format (as in any other Brazilian soccer championship, the format can change ever ...

: 2019,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, 2021 *

Copa do Nordeste Copa do Nordeste (''Cup of the North-East''), also known as Campeonato do Nordeste (''Championship of the North-East'') or Copa Nordeste (''Northeastern Cup''), and sometimes informally referred as Lampions League – in reference to the UEFA Ch ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links

* *
Wellington Paulista
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wellington Paulista 1984 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Clube Atlético Juventus players Mirassol Futebol Clube players Paraná Clube players Santos FC players Deportivo Alavés players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Cruzeiro Esporte Clube players SE Palmeiras players West Ham United F.C. players Criciúma Esporte Clube players Sport Club Internacional players Coritiba Foot Ball Club players Fluminense FC players Fortaleza Esporte Clube players América Futebol Clube (MG) players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Associação Atlética Ponte Preta players Associação Chapecoense de Futebol players Segunda División players Footballers from São Paulo Expatriate men's footballers in England Men's association football forwards