Carlos Vinícius Alves Morais (born 25 March 1995) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club

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

. He will become a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on 1 July 2025. With Benfica, Vinícius was awarded the Bola de Prata for his 18 goals in the 2019–20 Primeira Liga.

Career

Early career

Born in Bom Jesus das Selvas, Maranhão, Carlos Vinícius started his football career at the youth ranks of

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

in 2009, at the age of 14, as a central defender. In 2011, he moved to Santos, but was initially loaned to Desportivo Brasil before returning to the club. Released in 2014, he subsequently joined Palmeiras and finished his formation with the club in the following year in strong standing, thanks to Marcos Valadares, who in February 2015, gave Vinícius the opportunity to play centre-forward. One month later, "he was scoring goals and was first choice for the U20s." Vinícius moved to Caldense for the 2016 season, but spent the first year without playing. He made his senior debut on 19 March 2017, starting in a 2–0 away loss against Uberlândia for the

Campeonato Mineiro The Campeonato Mineiro is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. It is run by the Minas Gerais Football Federation (FMF). The history of Campeonato Mineiro can be divided into two parts: bef ...

. At the club, he was mainly used as a defensive midfielder. In May 2017, Vinícius joined Grêmio Anápolis for the second division of the Campeonato Goiano. For the side, he only contributed with two appearances as a substitute, being used as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, but was moved to the forward position for a friendly and scored two goals in that match; he then impressed some Portuguese scouts in the match, which prompted to a move to the country.

Real

On 5 July 2017, Vinícius was presented at Portuguese

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier ...

side Real, after agreeing to a one-year loan deal. He made his debut late in the month, in a 2017–18 Taça da Liga 1–0 win over Belenenses, scoring the only goal. Vinícius made his league debut on 6 August 2017, 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 Wick ...

in a 4–1 home routing of Leixões. He ended the season with 20 goals in 39 matches.

Napoli

In January 2018, Vinícius agreed to a deal with Italian side Napoli for around €4 million, effective as of 1 July. In July, he was included in the team's pre-season, and scored in a friendly against Carpi late in the month.

Rio Ave (loan)

After appearing in the pre-season with the club, Vinícius returned to Portugal after being loaned to

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

side Rio Ave for one season. He made his top tier debut on 2 September, playing the last 20 minutes in a 2–1 home defeat of Portimonense. Vinícius scored his first goal in the main category of Portuguese football on 22 September 2018, in a 3–1 away success over Santa Clara; in that match, he also scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

. Seven days later, he scored a brace in a 2–1 home win against Boavista. Vinícius ended his spell at Rio Ave with 14 goals in 20 matches.

Monaco (loan)

On 30 January 2019, Vinícius joined

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

team

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

on a six-month loan deal, He made his debut for the club three days later, replacing

Radamel Falcao Radamel Falcao García Zárate (born 10 February 1986) is a Colombian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Categoría Primera A club Millonarios F.C., Millonarios. Nicknamed "El ...

late into a 2–1 home win against

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

. Vinícius scored his first goal in France on 15 March 2019, netting a last-minute winner in a 1–0 away defeat of

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. Mainly used as a backup to Falcao, he helped the club avoid relegation, scoring two goals in 16 matches.

Benfica

On 20 July 2019, Vinícius signed with Portuguese champions Benfica for a transfer fee of €17 million and five-year contract which includes a release clause of €100 million. He scored a goal on his debut for the club, sealing a 5–0 win over Paços de Ferreira on 10 August. On 30 November 2019, Vinícius scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 home routing of Marítimo, taking his tally up to 12 goals in 16 matches overall during the season.

Tottenham Hotspur (loan)

On 2 October 2020, English club Tottenham Hotspur announced the signing of Vinícius on a season-long loan from Benfica for a €3 million fee. He made his debut for the club on 22 October in a

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

3–0 win against Austrian club

LASK Linzer Athletik-Sport-Klub, commonly known as LASK (), or Linzer ASK, is an Austrian professional football club based in Upper-Austrian state capital Linz. It is the oldest football club in that region, and plays in the Austrian Football Bundes ...

, contributing two assists. He scored his first goals for Tottenham on 26 November in a Europa League match against the Bulgarian side

Ludogorets Razgrad Professional Football Club Ludogorets 1945 (), commonly known as Ludogorets Razgrad or simply Ludogorets, is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Razgrad, which currently competes in the First Professional Football League ...

, hitting the back of the net twice to win 4–0. On 10 January 2021, Vinícius scored a first-half

in a 5–0 away win over eighth-tier Marine in the third round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. On 21 March 2021, Vinícius scored his first Premier League goal in a 2–0 away win over Aston Villa.

PSV Eindhoven (loan)

On 31 August 2021, Vinícius joined Dutch club

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional association football, football department, which has pla ...

on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy.

Fulham

On 1 September 2022, after Vinícius' loan with PSV was cut short, he joined English club

on a three-year contract with a club option to extend for a further year. Two days later on 3 September 2022, Vinicius made his Fulham debut, coming on as a 85th minute substitute, in a 2–1 defeat against Tottenham Hotspur. He scored his first goal, and the decisive one, in the West London derby as Fulham beat Chelsea 2–1 for the first time since March 2006. On 4 June 2025, Fulham announced the departure of Vinícius upon the expiration of his contract on 30 June.

Galatasaray (loan)

On 2 February 2024, Vinícius signed for Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Galatasaray on loan for the rest of the season.

Career statistics

Honours

Benfica *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

PSV Eindhoven *

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

: 2021–22 Galatasaray *

: 2023–24 * Turkish Super Cup:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Individual *

Player of the Month: February 2018 *

Player of the Month: October/November 2019 *

Forward of the Month: October/November 2019, December 2019 * Primeira Liga top scorer: 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at the Fulham F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carlos Vinicius 1995 births Living people Footballers from Maranhão Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Goiás Esporte Clube players Santos FC players SE Palmeiras players Associação Atlética Caldense players Grêmio Esportivo Anápolis players Real S.C. players SSC Napoli players Rio Ave F.C. players AS Monaco FC players S.L. Benfica footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players PSV Eindhoven players Fulham F.C. players Liga Portugal 2 players Ligue 1 players Primeira Liga players Premier League players Eredivisie players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in France Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Galatasaray S.K. footballers Süper Lig players 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen