Leonardo Nascimento Lopes de Souza (born 28 May 1997), known as Leonardo, 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 lea ...

who plays as a striker for

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

club Shanghai Port.

Career

Leonardo grew in the Santos youth ranks and then he was loaned to the B-team, where he scored three goals in 16 games.

Gainare Tottori are a Japanese football club, based in Tottori, capital of Tottori Prefecture. They play in the J3 League, the Japanese third tier of professional football league. Their team colour is green. Name origin Their team name ''Gainare'' derives fr ...

wanted to scout him, so GM Masayuki Okano and returning Fernandinho went to Brazil to see with their own eyes the striker and another player, Vitor Gabriel. In January 2018, the Tottori-based club signed both class '97 for their incoming 2018 season. After a top-scorer season with

Albirex Niigata is a professional football club based in Niigata, Japan. Formed in 1955 as Niigata Eleven SC, it was renamed Albireo Niigata FC in 1995, and Albirex Niigata in 1997. They currently play in J1 League after being promoted from J2 League as cha ...

, scoring 28 goals in the

2019 J2 League The season was the 48th season of the second-tier club football in Japan and the 21st season since the establishment of J2 League. Clubs Following eight successful seasons, Kashiwa Reysol bid farewell to the first division. A similar fate befe ...

, the Brazilian striker signed for

Urawa Red Diamonds The or simply Urawa Reds (浦和レッズ, ''Urawa Rezzu''), also known as Mitsubishi Urawa Football Club from April 1992 to January 1996, are a professional association football, football club in the city of Saitama (city), Saitama, part of t ...

in the J1 League.

Urawa Red Diamonds

Leonardo made his debut for Urawa in the club's match against

Vegalta Sendai is a Japanese professional association football, football club based in Sendai, Miyagi, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. They currently play in J2 League, the Japanese second tier of professional football. History Founded in 1988 as ''Tohoku Elect ...

in the 2020 J.League Cup group stage on 16 February 2020. He scored twice in the first-half as Urawa won 5–2. He made his

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

debut five days later and scored the club's second goal of a 3–2 away victory at

Shonan Bellmare is a Japanese professional football club based in Hiratsuka, in the west of Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Hiratsuk ...

Shandong Taishan

On 22 February 2021, Leonardo joined

club Shandong Taishan. On 30 July 2021, Leonardo joined fellow

club

Hebei F.C. Hebei Football Club () was a professional Chinese football club that participated in the Chinese Super League division under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Langfang, Hebei. The club was dissolved in Marc ...

on loan. On 24 February 2022, Leonardo joined

K League 1 The K League 1 () is a professional association football league in South Korea and the highest level of the South Korean football league system. The league is contested by twelve clubs. It is one of the most successful leagues in the Asian Foo ...

club

Ulsan Hyundai Ulsan HD FC (), formerly Ulsan Hyundai FC, is a South Korean professional football club based in Ulsan that competes in the K League 1, the top tier of South Korean football. Founded in 1983 as Hyundai Horang-i, they joined the K League in 198 ...

on loan.

Loan to Changchun Yatai

On 7 April 2023, Leonardo joined fellow

club

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a Chinese professional football club based in Changchun, Jilin, that competes in . Changchun Yatai plays its home matches at the Changchun Stadium, located within Nanguan District. The club's founder and main ...

on loan. On 30 April 2023, Leonardo scored his first goal for Yatai in a 1–1 home draw against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger. On 19 May 2023, Leonardo scored a hat trick in a 4–2 away win against Cangzhou Mighty Lions. On 30 June 2023, Yatai announced that his loan was terminated prematurely. He scored 10 goals from 12 league appearances for the club, making him top goalscorer of the 2023 Chinese Super League at the time of his departure.

Loans to Zhejiang FC

On 1 July 2023, Leonardo joined fellow

club Zhejiang FC on loan. On 12 July 2023, Leonardo scored his first 2 goals for Zhejiang in a 2–2 away draw at his former club

. On 7 February 2024, he was re-loaned to Zhejiang until the end of the 2024 season.

Shanghai Port

On 27 January 2025, Leonardo joined fellow

club Shanghai Port.

Club statistics

Honours

Ulsan Hyundai *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Individual *J2 League top scorer:

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 ...

(28 goals) *J3 League top scorer:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

(24 goals)

References

External links

Leonardo
at data.j-league.or.jp
Leonardo
at www.jleague.jp (archived)
Leonardo
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonardo 1997 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Ituano FC players Santos FC players Esporte Clube Rio Verde players Gainare Tottori players Albirex Niigata players Urawa Red Diamonds players Shandong Taishan F.C. players Hebei F.C. players Ulsan HD FC players Changchun Yatai F.C. players Zhejiang Professional F.C. players Shanghai Port F.C. players K League 1 players Chinese Super League players J1 League players J2 League players J3 League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea Footballers from Sorocaba 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen