Cleyton Alexandre Henrique Silva (born 8 March 1983) is a Brazilian former 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 played 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. ...

Career

Cleyton is one of few footballers in Greece to have a dual

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that certifies a person's identity and nationality for international travel. A passport allows its bearer to enter and temporarily reside in a foreign country, access local aid ...

, one of Brazilian and one of

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

which he received on 13 November 2009, after spending seven years in Greece, making him eligible to gain Greek citizenship. On 19 September 2004, he made his debut in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

in a 1–0 home of his club (

Apollon Kalamarias Apollon Kalamarias (Greek: Απόλλων Καλαμαριάς) is a Greek sports club from Kalamaria, a suburb of Thessaloniki. It was founded in 1926. The club is named after Apollo, the mythical Greek god. Its colors are red and black. Histor ...

) win against

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

AEL

In the 2006–07 season Cleyton helped AEL reach the Greek cup final and win it. He was the club's top scorer in European competitions in the 2007–08 season, including goals against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and Everton.

Panathinaikos

Cleyton signed for Panathinaikos in the summer of 2008 for a fee of €1,700,000. Cleyton started the 2011–12 season well, scoring very important goals for the greens such as a direct free kick against

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

and a fantastic overhead kick against

Levadiakos Levadiakos Football Club (officially romanized: ''Levadeiakos'' ) is a Greek professional football club that plays in the Super League Greece. Based in Livadeia, Greece, the club was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki, forerunner of the Super League, ...

Dinamo Zagreb

On 22 January 2014, Cleyton signed for

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

after his former

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

manager

Robert Prosinečki Robert Prosinečki (; born 12 January 1969) is a professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Born in West Germany, he internationally represented Yugoslavia and later Croatia. He is the current manager of the Mont ...

recommended him to the club. On 28 March 2014, it was reported by the club that the two parties had mutually agreed to terminate the player's contract as a result of misconduct not tolerated by the club. Croatian media reported that Cleyton provoked and engaged in a fight at a

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

night club in the early morning hours of 27 March 2014 while heavily under the influence of alcohol.

Skoda Xanthi

On 2 September 2014, Cleyton signed a one-year contract for

Xanthi Xanthi is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace. Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided ...

for an undisclosed fee. On 20 September 2014, he made his debut with the club in a 2–0 home win against

. On 29 April 2015, Xanthi succeeded to reach the

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

final for the first time in its history after a 0–0 draw with Iraklis. Cleyton Silva has twice won the Greek Cup, one with AEL in 2007 and one with

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

in 2010. On 3 May 2015 in a 0–0 home draw against Asteras Tripoli where he lost a penalty Cleyton reached 200 appearances in Greek

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

Elazığspor and Göztepe

On 7 August 2015, despite numerous offer from Greek clubs, Cleyton decided to continue his career in Turkey signing a two years' contract for

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

club

Elazığspor Elazığspor is a Turkish professional football club located in Elazığ and currently competes in the TFF Second League. They play their home games at Elazığ Atatürk Stadium in Elazığ, which has a maximum capacity of 18,423. The club was ...

for an undisclosed fee. Due to financial problems, and after the first half of the season, Cleyton decided to return to Greece to play for Iraklis, that seemed to be the proper club to continue his career. Cleyton, who was a transfer target of

Atromitos Atromitos (Greek: Ατρόμητος, "fearless") may refer to: * Atromitos F.C., a football team based in Peristeri, Greece * Atromitos Piraeus, a football team based in Piraeus, Greece * Atromitos Yeroskipou Atromitos Yeroskipou () was a Cy ...

and Iraklis, chose to remain in Turkey and continue his career at Göztepe. The 33-year-old former player of

was then released by Elazigspor, but selected not to return in Greece, where he has spent the biggest part of his career.

Omonia Nicosia

On 18 June 2016, Cleyton signed a contract with Cypriot club

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cypriot professional multi-sport club, established on 4 June 1948 in Nico ...

. He appeared in 41 games and scored 10 goals. On 26 May 2017 the club announced that Cleyton was released under a mutual agreement with the footballer.

Return to Turkey

On 5 July 2017, Cleyton signed a one-year contract with

club

Ümraniyespor Ümraniyespor Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club located in Ümraniye, Istanbul. The club has played in red-and-white kits since its formation in 1938. Stadium Currently the team plays at the 3,513-capacity Ümraniye Belediyesi � ...

for an undisclosed fee.

Iraklis

On 7 September 2018, Cleyton joined Iraklis of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

on a free transfer.

Career statistics

Honours

;AEL *

: 2006–07 ;Panathinaikos *

: 2009–10 *

: 2009–10 Xanthi *

runner-up: 2014–15 Individual * Super League Greece Team of the Season: 2014–15

References

External links

*
ІСТОРІЯ ТА СТАТИСТИКА УКРАЇНСЬКОГО ФУТБОЛУ на ukr-football.org.ua
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleyton 1983 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Brazilian men's footballers Greek men's footballers Greek people of Brazilian descent Apollon Kalamarias F.C. players Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C. players Panathinaikos F.C. players Iraklis F.C. (Thessaloniki) players FC Metalurh Donetsk players Kayserispor footballers GNK Dinamo Zagreb players Ümraniyespor footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia AC Omonia players Cypriot First Division players Greek expatriate men's footballers Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Super League Greece players Super League Greece 2 players Ukrainian Premier League players Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Croatian Football League players Footballers from São Paulo (state) Sportspeople from Jacareí 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen 21st-century Greek sportsmen