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 lea ...

who plays as a striker for

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

. He began his career with 77 games and 12 goals in the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

for Grêmio Barueri,

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

and Santos, as well as representing

Grêmio FBPA Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense (), commonly known as Grêmio, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in Porto Alegre, the capital city of the Federative units of Brazil, Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. ...

on loan in 2013. Willian José spent most of his career in Spain, making 267

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

appearances and scoring 82 goals, mainly for

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

and

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

, winning a

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

with each in

2020 The year 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 even ...

and

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 ...

. He also represented

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

and

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

on loan in the division, and had a loan to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

in 2021.

Club career

Grêmio Barueri

Born in

Porto Calvo Porto Calvo is a municipality in the state of Alagoas, Brazil. Its population was 24,071 in 2022 and its area is 313 km². It was founded in 1636. See also * List of municipalities in Alagoas This is a list of the municipalities in the ...

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

, 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 Sertãozinho is a Brazilian municipality in the state of São Paulo. The population in 2020 was about 127,142. Its area is 403 km2. The municipality consists of Sertãozinho city and two districts: Cruz das Posses and Vila Garcia. Sertãozi ...

for the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

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

São Paulo

From 2011 to 2016, Willian José's contract was the property of

Deportivo Maldonado Club Deportivo Maldonado is a football club from Maldonado, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División following their relegation from the Uruguayan Primera División The Liga Profesional de Primera División (American ...

of Uruguay, a team known for buying players to loan out. On 13 January 2011, Willian José joined

. He was mostly used as a backup to

Luís Fabiano Luís Fabiano Clemente (born 8 November 1980), commonly known as Luís Fabiano, is a retired Brazilian professional footballer who played as a striker most notably for Sevilla, São Paulo, and the Brazil national team. He is a prolific goals ...

and

Dagoberto Dagoberto is the name of: Football *Dagoberto (Brazilian footballer) * Dagoberto Currimilla, Chilean footballer * Dagoberto Fontes, Uruguayan footballer * Dagoberto Ojeda, Colombian footballer *Dagoberto Portillo, Salvadoran footballer * Dagoberto ...

in his first year, and despite the latter leaving for Internacional in 2012, he was still third-choice behind new signing

Osvaldo Osvaldo may refer to the following people: Given name * Osvaldo Alonso (born 1985), a Cuban football player * Osvaldo Ardiles (born 1952), an Argentine football player and coach *Osvaldo Bagnoli Osvaldo Bagnoli (born 3 July 1935) is an Italia ...

Grêmio and Santos

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

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

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

, being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. 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 Wick ...

in a 3–2 win at

Recreativo de Huelva Real Club Recreativo de Huelva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Huelva, Andalucia, Spain. Founded on 23 December 1889, they are the oldest football club in Spain, and currently play in , holding home ...

, he was called up for the main squad and was on the bench for the matches against

and

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

. He made his

debut on 11 May, replacing compatriot

Casemiro Carlos Henrique Casimiro (born 23 February 1992), also known mononymously as Casemiro , is a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Manchester United F.C., Manchester United and the ...

in a 2–0 loss at

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, 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), the club was fou ...

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 football league system, Spanish league system. Zarag ...

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 FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

. 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 List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. Founded on 8 July 1953, it plays in Primera Federación, holding home games at ''Estadio Anxo ...

. He also scored braces against

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

(3–5 away defeat) and

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

(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

, 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. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

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

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

, 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

. He made his debut on 21 August as the season began with a 3–0 home loss to Real Madrid, replacing David Concha after 55 minutes after starting on the bench due to fitness. In his next game on 9 September, he equalised in a 1–1 draw on

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

's visit to the

Anoeta Stadium Anoeta Stadium (), currently known as the Reale Arena for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain that was inaugurated in 1993. The stadium lies at the Anoeta Sports Complex, and is mostly used for ...

, and 12 days later he netted twice in a 4–1 win over former club Las Palmas. adding a further brace on 10 December in the first 25 minutes of a 3–2 win over

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

. Willian José scored four goals on 19 October 2017 in a 6–0 win away to

FK Vardar FK Vardar () is a professional Association football, football club based in Skopje, North Macedonia, which competes in the Macedonian First Football League, Macedonian First League. They are the most successful football club in Football in Maced ...

of Macedonia in the Europa League group stage, though his team did not advance. The following 1 October, he extended his contract to 2024, with a

release clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

increased from €60 million to €70 million and Maldonado keeping 30% of his economic rights.

Loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 23 January 2021, Willian José joined Premier League club

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 ...

season, with the option to make the deal permanent at its conclusion. He 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 ...

on 27 January, making a vital headed clearance of a goal-bound shot from

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

in the last minute of added time. He made his first start in the next game away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

three days later, and on 17 April he scored his only Wolves goal in a 1–0 home league win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, sealing the Blades' relegation to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

Real Betis

On 26 August 2021, Willian José joined fellow La Liga club

on a season-long loan deal. The deal included the option to make the move permanent until 2025 for a fee of €8.5 million. He made his debut on 13 September in a 2–1 win at fellow Andalusians

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, as a half-time substitute for

Borja Iglesias Borja Iglesias Quintas (; born 17 January 1993) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Betis. Formed at Celta, where he played mainly in the reserves, Iglesias achieved totals of over 200 La Liga appeara ...

; six days later he started and scored in the first five minutes of a 2–2 home draw with

. He followed this with a late goal from the bench in a 3–1 win at

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

, and both goals in a victory against

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

at the

Estadio Benito Villamarín es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...

. Over the season, he competed with Iglesias for the position of manager

Manuel Pellegrini Manuel Luis Pellegrini Ripamonti (; ; born 16 September 1953) is a Chilean professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Real Betis. As a coach, he has managed clubs in S ...

's starting centre-forward. In the team's victorious Copa del Rey campaign, he scored a penalty in a 4–0 win on his return to Real Sociedad in the quarter-final, and was an extra-time substitute in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

win over

, scoring the first attempt in the penalty shootout. In

2022–23 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 ...

, Willian José struggled for game time behind

Sergio Canales Sergio Canales Madrazo (; born 16 February 1991) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Liga MX club C.F. Monterrey, Monterrey. After starting out at ...

and Iglesias. He returned to prominence in the following season, coming on as a half-time substitute for Iglesias in the opening game away to

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

and scoring the winning goal of a 2–1 victory in the last minute. On 8 October, away to Alavés, he came off the bench late in the 1–1 draw and was sent off in added time for kicking out at

Aleksandar Sedlar Aleksandar Sedlar ( sr-cyr, Александар Седлар; born 13 December 1991) is a Serbian professional association football, footballer who plays for Spanish club Deportivo Alavés. He can play as a wide midfielder, wide or central midf ...

as he got up from the floor. He scored four goals on 1 November in a 12–1 win at sixth-tier

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca (December 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions o ...

in the first round of the Copa del Rey; the result was the joint-second biggest win in the competition's history, behind

's 12–0 win against Tardienta on the same day. In the 2023–24 season, he became the top scorer for his club in La Liga by scoring 10 goals.

Spartak Moscow

On 1 July 2024, Willian José signed a two-year contract with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * ...

. On 14 January 2025, he left Spartak by mutual consent.

Bahia

On 14 January 2025, Willian José joined

on a two-year deal.

International career

In 2011, Willian José was a member of both the

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

and

South American Youth Championship South American Youth Championships may refer to: * South American Youth Football Championship The South American Youth Football Championship, also known as South American U-20 Championship (; ), branded as CONMEBOL Sub 20, is a South American foo ...

winning squads with

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, 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 country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, but he didn't play either one.

Career statistics

Honours

São Paulo *

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Real Madrid *

: 2013–14 Real Sociedad *Copa del Rey: 2019–20 Real Betis *Copa del Rey: 2021–22 Bahia *

Campeonato Baiano The Campeonato Baiano (), also known as the Baianão (), is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Run by the Bahia Football Federation (FBF), it is the second-oldest state football championship o ...

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Brazil U20 *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Real Betis website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Willian Jose 1991 births Living people Copa Sudamericana–winning players Footballers from Alagoas Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Grêmio Barueri Futebol players São Paulo FC players Grêmio FBPA players Santos FC 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 FC Spartak Moscow players Esporte Clube Bahia players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players La Liga players Segunda División players Premier League players Russian Premier League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Russia 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen