Rodrigo Ely (born 3 November 1993) 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

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Grêmio.

Club career

Milan

Rodrigo Ely is a youth product of Brazilian club, Grêmio, and joined

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

in 2012. He spent two years with the youth side before subsequent loan spells with several low tier Italian clubs.

Reggina / Varese (loan)

On 24 July 2012, Ely joined Reggina on a season-long loan. On 16 July 2013, AC Milan confirmed that they had reached an agreement for the season-long loan of Ely to

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

Avellino

On 21 July 2014, Ely joined

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

on a free transfer.

Return to Milan

After impressive performances with Avellino in the 2014–15 season, Milan decided to bring him back to San Siro on 10 June 2015, where he signed new contract which will keep him at the club until 30 June 2019. Despite Ely being a free agent, Milan also paid an unknown party a €8 million fee. He made his first

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

game of the 2015–16 season with Milan, in a 2–0 defeat against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, where he received two yellow cards, thus getting sent off.

Alavés

On 30 January 2017, Ely joined

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 ...

club

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut for the club on 11 March, replacing Ibai Gómez in a 2–1 away win against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

. On 17 April 2017, Ely scored his first goal in the main category, netting his team's second in a 2–1 home win against

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

. On 21 July, he signed a permanent four-year deal with the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

side.

Nottingham Forest

On 2 September 2021, Ely signed a one-year deal with

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 ...

side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

as a free transfer. On 31 January 2022, it was announced that Forest and Ely had mutually agreed to terminate his contract at the club, without him having made an appearance.

Almería

On 7 March 2022,

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 ...

Ely signed a three-month contract with

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 ...

back in Spain, with an option for a further two years.

Grêmio

On 1 August 2023, Ely agreed to a two-and-a-half-year contract with his first club Grêmio, pending on medical examinations.

International career

Ely played for Italy at Under-19 and Under-20, but was called up by Alexandre Gallo to be a part of his Brazil Under-23 squad, which was preparing to compete at

Rio 2016 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club

; Milan *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

;Alavés *

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 ...

: 2016-17 Runner-up Grêmio *

Campeonato Gaúcho The Campeonato Gaúcho (English: Gaúcho Championship), officially named as Campeonato Gaúcho de Futebol Série A and commonly known as the Gauchão or the Gauchão Ipiranga (company), Ipiranga for sponsorship reasons, is the top-flight profess ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ely, Rodrigo 1993 births Living people Footballers from Rio Grande do Sul Brazilian people of Italian descent Italian people of Brazilian descent Italian men's footballers Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players AC Milan players US Avellino 1912 players SSD Varese Calcio players AS Reggina 1914 players La Liga players Deportivo Alavés players UD Almería players Grêmio FBPA players Italy men's youth international footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England People from Lajeado 21st-century Italian sportsmen 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England