Willian José da Silva (born 23 November 1991), known as Willian José, 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 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

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

Club career

Grêmio Barueri

Born in Porto Calvo,

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. It ...

, Willian José started his career at local CRB's youth setup, before joining Grêmio Barueri in 2008, aged 17. On 1 August 2009 he made his first team – and Série A – debut, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–1 loss at

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. Willian José scored his first goal as a professional on 17 January of the following year, netting his side's only in a 1–1 draw at Sertãozinho for the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional association football, football league in the Brazilian States of Brazil, state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. Run b ...

championship. He scored six further times during the campaign, which ended in relegation.

São Paulo

On 13 January 2011, Willian José joined

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 ...

. He was mostly used as a backup to Luís Fabiano and

Dagoberto Dagoberto Pelentier (born 22 March 1983) simply known as Dagoberto, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. Career Born in Dois Vizinhos, he formerly played for Atlético-PR, São Paulo and Internacional. He ...

in his first year, and despite the latter leaving for

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

in 2012, he was still third-choice behind new signing

Osvaldo Osvaldo may refer to the following people: Given name *Osvaldo Alonso, Cuban football player *Osvaldo Ardiles (born 1952), an Argentine football player and coach *Osvaldo Bagnoli, an Italian football coach *Osvaldo Brandão, a Brazilian football c ...

Grêmio and Santos

On 13 December 2012, Willian José moved to Grêmio, but after appearing rarely he signed with

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube (), commonly known simply as Santos or Santos FC and nicknamed the ''Peixe'' (; "fish"), is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a '' bairro'' in the city of Santos. It is also the team with the most goals i ...

in May of the following year. He appeared in 28 matches during his only season at ''Peixe'', scoring five goals.

Real Madrid

On 8 January 2014 Willian José moved abroad, signing a six-month deal with

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. After scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 3–2 win at Recreativo de Huelva, he was called up for the main squad and was on the bench for the matches against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

and UD Almería. Willian José made his

debut on 11 May, replacing compatriot

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), known as Casemiro, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United and the Brazil national team. He is widely regarded as one of the best d ...

in a 2–0 loss at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...

. In June, however, he was released.

Zaragoza

Willian José signed a one-year deal with

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

in the second level on 29 August 2014. He made his debut for the club on 7 September, replacing David Muñoz in a 4–1 loss at FC Barcelona B. Willian José scored his first goal for the club on 12 October 2014, in a 3–3 away draw against

CD Lugo Club Deportivo Lugo is a Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at '' Estadio Anxo Carro''. History The new board of directors was o ...

. He also scored braces against

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

(3–5 away defeat) and

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, S.A.D. is a professional football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, it plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 Segunda División play-offs. Girona holds its home matches at ...

(4–1 away win), finishing the campaign with ten goals as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs.

Las Palmas

On 30 July 2015, Willian José signed a one-year contract with Las Palmas, newly promoted to the top tier. His first goal in the category occurred on 12 December, the game's only in a home success against

. On 25 January 2016, Willian José scored a brace in a 3–2 loss at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

. On 20 February, he scored a first-half equalizer against league leaders

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

, but the hosts would eventually lose by 2–1. He also scored the equalizer against former club Real Madrid on 13 March, but the hosts again lost by 2–1.

Real Sociedad

On 31 July 2016, Willian José signed a five-year deal with fellow league team

. On 21 September, he scored a double in a 4–1 home routing of former club Las Palmas.

Loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 23 January 2021, Willian José joined Premier League club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

for the remainder of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season, with the option to make the deal permanent at its conclusion. José made his first appearance for Wolves as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 draw with Chelsea at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

on 27 January 2021, making a vital headed clearance of a goal-bound shot from Chelsea's

Kai Havertz Kai Lukas Havertz (born 11 June 1999) is a German professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or forward for club Chelsea and the Germany national team. Having graduated from Bayer Leverkusen's youth academy in 2016, Havertz ...

in the last minute of added time. Willian José made his first start for Wolves in their next game away to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on 30 January 2021. He made his debut appearance at Molineux in a Premier League fixture against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 2 February that Wolves won 2–1, thus ensuring Wolves did the league double over Arsenal in

for the first time since 1978–79. José won the penalty that Rúben Neves converted for the first of Wolves's two goals. On 9 April, Willian José scored what would have been his first goal for Wolves, in a 1–0 away win against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

, had it not been controversially disallowed by the

video assistant referee The video assistant referee (VAR) is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee. The assistant video assistant referee (AVAR) is a current or former referee appointed to assist the VAR in the video ope ...

, after a cross from

Nélson Semedo Nélson Cabral Semedo (born 16 November 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team. Semedo began his career at Sintrense before joini ...

Daniel Podence Daniel Castelo Podence (born 21 October 1995) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Wolverhampton Wanderers. He started his career with Sporting CP, appearing in 40 competitive matches and also being loaned to ...

was ruled offside. On 17 April, he did score his first Wolves goal in a 1–0 home league win over Sheffield United, sealing the Blades' relegation to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

Loan to Real Betis

On 26 August 2021, Willian José joined La Liga rivals

on a season-long loan deal.

International career

In 2011, Willian José was a member of both the FIFA U-20 World Cup and South American Youth Championship winning squads with

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, scoring twice in the former and thrice in the latter. On 12 March 2018, he received his first call-up for the senior team for two friendly matches against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but he didn't play either one.

Career statistics

Honours

São Paulo *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, named as ''Copa Sudamericana'' (; pt, Copa Sul-Americana ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club competition in South American ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Real Madrid *

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

: 2013–14 Real Sociedad *Copa del Rey: 2019–20 Real Betis *Copa del Rey: 2021–22 Brazil U20 * FIFA U-20 World Cup:

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 ...

* South American Youth Championship:

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Betis website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willian Jose 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Alagoas Brazilian footballers Association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Grêmio Barueri Futebol players São Paulo FC players Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense players Santos FC players La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid Castilla footballers Real Madrid CF players Real Zaragoza players UD Las Palmas players Real Sociedad footballers Real Betis players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Premier League players Brazilian expatriate footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate footballers in Spain Brazil under-20 international footballers Brazil youth international footballers