Luiz Gustavo Dias (born 23 July 1987) 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 ...

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 boundari ...

for

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL for short) ( ar, دوري المحترفين السعودي, link=no, ''Dawriyy al-Muḥtarifayni as-Suʿūdī''), known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL for short) for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of associat ...

club

Al-Nassr Al Nassr Football Club ( ar, نادي النصر السعودي; '' Naṣr'' meaning ''Victory'') is a Saudi Arabian football club based in Riyadh. Formed in 1955, the club plays its home games at the Mrsool Park. Their home colours are yello ...

. He began his career as a left back, but has played mostly as a defensive midfielder, and also as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

. From 2007 to 2017 he played in Germany, where he represented

1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 189 ...

, Bayern Munich and

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

, making 245

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

appearances and scoring 15 goals. He won six trophies in his time in the country, including the

2012–13 UEFA Champions League The 2012–13 UEFA Champions League was the 58th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 21st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

with Bayern Munich. A full international with over 40 caps since his debut in 2011, Luiz Gustavo represented Brazil as they won the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and came fourth at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, both on home soil.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Pindamonhangaba Pindamonhangaba is a municipality in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, located in the Paraíba Valley, between the two most active production and consumption regions in the country, São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. It is accessible by the Via Dutra ( ...

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 Ga ...

, Luiz Gustavo started his professional career at Corinthians Alagoano. In August 2007, he was loaned to German club

, then of the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

. On 1 April 2008, Hoffenheim signed Luiz Gustavo on a permanent contract. He went on to play two and a half

seasons for the club.

Bayern Munich

On 3 January 2011, Luiz Gustavo was signed by Bayern Munich. The amount of the transfer fee varies from €15–20 million, depending on different sources. Twelve days later, he made his debut for the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n club, coming on as a second-half substitute in the 1–1 away draw with

. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 February, the equaliser in the 1–3 home loss against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

, by volleying in

Franck Ribéry Franck Henry Pierre Ribéry (; born 7 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer who primarily played as a winger, preferably on the left side, and was known for his pace, energy, skill, and precise passing. Ribéry has been des ...

's cross. In his first full season at Bayern, he played 46 matches in total, with Bayern finishing runner-up in all three competitions which they contested. His only goal came on 13 August, an added-time strike which won a league match away to VfL Wolfsburg. On 12 May 2012, Luiz Gustavo was selected to start in the centre of midfield in the DFB-Pokal Final, but he was substituted at half-time for

Thomas Müller Thomas Müller (; born 13 September 1989) is a German professional footballer who plays for club Bayern Munich and the Germany national team. A versatile player, Müller has been deployed in a variety of attacking roles – as an attacking mi ...

as Bayern were beaten 5–2 by Dortmund. He missed their defeat a week later in the

Champions League final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

, as he was booked in the second leg of their semi-final victory over Real Madrid. Luiz Gustavo began the 2012–13 season by featuring in Bayern's 2–1 win over Borussia Dortmund in the DFL-Supercup on 12 August. He scored four times in 22 matches as they won the league title. On 25 May 2013, Luiz Gustavo appeared as an added-time substitute for Franck Ribéry as Bayern defeated Borussia Dortmund 2–1 in the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

VfL Wolfsburg

On 16 August 2013, it was reported that Luiz Gustavo had signed for VfL Wolfsburg for an unspecified amount, on a contract that would tie him to the club till 2018. He made his debut the following day, starting in a 4–0 win over

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

at the

Volkswagen Arena Volkswagen Arena (; also known as the VfL Wolfsburg Arena due to UEFA sponsorship regulations) is a football stadium in the German city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. It was opened in 2002 and named after the automotive group Volkswagen AG. The V ...

. One week later, in his next appearance, he was sent off for two bookings as his team lost 0–2 at

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

, and he was also dismissed on his return on 14 September in a 1–3 defeat at

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

. He scored 4 goals in 29 matches as Wolfsburg came fifth to qualify automatically for the group stage of the next season's

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. ...

, receiving a third red card on 19 April 2014 in a 3–1 win at rivals

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

. Luiz Gustavo scored four times in five matches as Wolfsburg won the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

in his second season, starting with a brace in a 4–1 win over 1. FC Heidenheim in the second round on 29 October 2014, and continuing with a goal in their 4–0 victory at Arminia Bielefeld in the semi-final on 29 April 2015. On 30 May, he scored from a rebounded shot by compatriot

Naldo Naldo may refer to: * Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues (born 1982), Brazilian football defender * Edinaldo Gomes Pereira (born 1988), Brazilian football defender * Marinaldo dos Santos Oliveira (born 1990), commonly known as Naldo, Brazilian footballer ...

to equalise in 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 con ...

against Borussia Dortmund, with Wolfsburg eventually winning 3–1 for their first cup honour. On 29 April 2017 Luiz Gustavo was sent off for the eighth time in his career in a 6–0 defeat to his former club Bayern Munich, in doing so becoming tied with

Jens Nowotny Jens Daniel Nowotny (born 11 January 1974) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played in nearly 300 official games with Bayer Leverkusen in one full decade, helping them reach the 2002 Champions League fina ...

for the most red cards in Bundesliga history. Referee Felix Zwayer sent Gustavo off in the 78 minute after he picking up a second yellow card for fouling Renato Sanches. Gustavo had to be restrained by his teammates as he sarcastically applauded the referee and refused to leave the field.

Olympique de Marseille

FC Salzburg versus Olympique Marseille (3

On 4 July 2017, Luiz Gustavo ended his decade-long spell in German football, signing for France's Olympique de Marseille for a fee of €8 million. He agreed a four-year deal with a club record monthly salary of €750,000. He made his debut 23 days later in a 4–2 home win over Belgium's

KV Oostende Koninklijke Voetbalclub Oostende, also called KV Oostende () or KVO, is a Belgian football club from the city of Ostend, West Flanders in Belgium. The team was founded in 1904 as ''VG Oostende'' and has the matricule No. 31. History In 1911, a ...

in the third round of Europa League qualification. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 6 August, starting in a 3–0 home win over

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

in the first game of the new season, contributing to the first goal from Clinton N'Jie. On 1 October, he scored his first goal to conclude a 4–2 win at

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, but was later sent off for a shin-high-challenge on

Pierre Lees-Melou Pierre Lees-Melou (born 25 May 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Brest. Career Dijon Born in Langon, Gironde, Lees-Melou started his career with in the Championnat de France Amateur 2 be ...

. On his return three weeks later, he scored again from 30 yards to open the scoring in a 2–2 draw with rivals

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in ''

Le Classique Le Classique (, The Classic) is the rivalry between French professional football clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille. The duo are the two most successful clubs in French football, and the only French teams to have won major Eur ...

'', again at the Stade Vélodrome. Luiz Gustavo was an ever-present in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, playing all of Marseille's 19 matches as they reached the final, losing 3–0 to Atlético Madrid in Lyon. He made 56 official appearances in his first season in France, making him the most selected player by manager

Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...

that year. He was named in the Ligue 1 team of the year at the

Trophées UNFP du football The Trophées UNFP du football are a number of awards given annually by the National Union of Professional Football Players to players playing in France's Ligue 1 and Ligue 2, as well as to managers and referees, the most prestigious one being the ...

Fenerbahçe

On 2 September 2019, Luiz Gustavo signed a four-year deal with Turkish club Fenerbahçe. He made his debut on 16 September in a 3–1 away loss against

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are played at Kırbıyık Holding Stadium. The most recent club ma ...

. He scored his first goal for the club on 26 October, in a 5–1 home win over

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club) is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya. They are better known as Konyaspor. In 1922 Konyaspor were founded with the name Konya Gençlerbirliği and have played at their current home stadium ...

. In his first season at Fenerbahçe, he played 32 matches and scored 3 goals with 1 assist in total. In his second season, he was named one of Fenerbahçe's vice-captains. On 18 October 2020, he captained Fenerbahçe for the first time in a 3–2 away win over Göztepe. Gustavo scored his first goal of the season in Fenerbahçe's 4–1 home win over İstanbul Başakşehir on 23 December.

Al-Nassr

On 24 July 2022, Luiz Gustavo joined Saudi Arabian club

on a one-year contract, reuniting with former manager

International career

Luiz Gustavo made his debut for

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 ...

on 10 August 2011, coming on as a second-half substitute in a friendly match against

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 ...

. He was a member of

Luiz Felipe Scolari Luiz Felipe Scolari (; born 9 November 1948), also known as Felipão ("Big Phil"), is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He is the current manager of Athletico Paranaense. Scolari was a defender during his playing days, and no ...

's 23-man squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup on home soil, and played the full 90 minutes as Brazil defeated world champions

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

3–0 in the

at the Estádio do Maracanã on 30 June. He scored his first goal for Brazil in a friendly match against Australia on 7 September, later that year. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup on home soil, and having played every minute up to that point, he was suspended for the quarter-final match against Colombia due to accumulation of yellow cards. He returned to the starting eleven for the next two games as the team finished fourth. Luiz Gustavo was initially called into

Dunga Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri (born 31 October 1963), known as Dunga (), is a Brazilian football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Under his captaincy, Brazil won the 1994 FIFA World Cup and he lifte ...

's squad for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

in Chile, but withdrew with a knee injury which required surgery, and was replaced by

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rod ...

Personal life

Luiz Gustavo is a devout Catholic, commenting that he "read the Bible a lot and pray twice a day". He became engaged to his girlfriend Milene on 25 December 2010, while on holiday in Brazil. He cites his mother as a big source of inspiration for him because of her dream that he would one day succeed as a player, before her death when he was just 16 years old.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Brazil's goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Bayern Munich *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

* DFL-Supercup:

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 gat ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

VfL Wolfsburg * DFB-Pokal: 2014–15 * DFL-Supercup: 2015 Marseille *

runner-up: 2017–18

International

Brazil * FIFA Confederations Cup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

Individual

Squad of the Season: 2017–18 * Ligue 1 Team of the Year: 2017–18 * Saudi Professional League Player of the Month: October 2022

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gustavo, Luiz 1987 births Living people People from Pindamonhangaba Association football midfielders Brazilian footballers Brazilian expatriate footballers Sport Club Corinthians Alagoano players Clube de Regatas Brasil players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players FC Bayern Munich footballers VfL Wolfsburg players Olympique de Marseille players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Al Nassr FC players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in France Expatriate footballers in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Süper Lig players Saudi Professional League players Brazilian Roman Catholics Brazil international footballers 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players FIFA Confederations Cup-winning players UEFA Champions League winning players Footballers from São Paulo (state)