André Clarindo dos Santos (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 a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, but was also utilised 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. ...

left winger 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. ...

. On 15 June 2009, he made his first international appearance as a substitute in a match against

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Santos participated and helped Brazil capture the

2009 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth FIFA Confederations Cup, Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton ...

. He joined

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

from Fenerbahçe in August 2011.

Early life and career

André Santos spent his early career with Figueirense,

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

and

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

Corinthians

In 2008, Santos moved to

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

, with Figueirense retaining 50% economic rights for the future transfer fee. The deal was partially financed by

DIS Esporte D.I.S. Esporte e Organização de Eventos LTDA. is a private football investment fund. It was set up by Rio Grande do Sul native Delcir Sonda and Idi Sonda. They operate one of the São Paulo state supermarket chains, Sonda. DIS was the strategic ...

, to which Corinthians later sold 22.5% of the rights. along with Dentinho and

Renato Renato is a masculine given name. It is derived from the Latin name Renatus. Notable people with the name used mononymously include: * Renato Mirze (born 1982), International brand chef, TV presenter * San Renato, a saint of the Catholic Church ...

, for R$ 5.4 million total fee.page 23, Corinthians also sold 40% rights to Turbo Sports, for R$3.6 million and after that partnered with the investor to sign Figueirense's remain 50% rights, making Corinthians own 37.5% of the players' rights after the deal. However, Corinthians did not pay Turbo Sports for its portion of the transfer fee (from Fenerbahçe), after which the company sued Corinthians.

Fenerbahçe

On 20 July 2009, he joined Turkish club Fenerbahçe together with his teammate in

, Cristian Oliveira Baroni. They signed a 5-year contract. He scored a total of 10 goals in 52 league appearances for the football club. He scored 5 goals in 25 appearances in the Turkish Super League in the 2010–11 season, making him the top scoring left back in Turkey. On 29 August 2011,

agreed a €7m fee for the transfer of Santos. Santos later said that he was not deserting a sinking ship by leaving Fenerbahçe, insisting he loved playing for them. "I am leaving Fenerbahçe from the front door", Santos told reporters at Istanbul airport on 31 August. "I love the country, Istanbul and Turkish people. I can come back here at the latter stages of my career. I was happy at Fenerbahçe but I did the right thing for my career.

Arsenal

On 31 August 2011, André Santos signed for Arsenal on a long-term contract, Fenerbahçe SK announced the fee was €7 million. He made his debut for the Gunners on 13 September, coming on as an 86th-minute substitute for

Gervinho Gervais Yao Kouassi (born 27 May 1987), known as Gervinho, is an Ivorian professional footballer who plays as a forward. Gervinho began his career at ASEC Abidjan and Toumodi, before moving to Belgium in 2004 to play for Beveren. Between 2007 ...

in a 1–1 draw away to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. On 28 September, he scored his first goal for Arsenal in the 2–1 win over

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

in the

. Santos made his return on 24 March 2012 in a 3–0 win against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

coming on as a substitute for Kieran Gibbs in the 68th minute. On 13 May, he scored the equalising goal against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, levelling the score at 2–2. Arsenal went on to win the match 3–2 thanks to a

Laurent Koscielny Laurent Koscielny (born 10 September 1985) is a French former professional footballer who played as a centre back. He is currently the sporting director of Ligue 2 club Lorient. Born in Tulle, Koscielny began his football career playing for a ho ...

winner.

On 3 November, after a dismal first-half performance against Manchester United, Santos came under even more criticism after having swapped shirts with ex-Gunner captain Robin van Persie at half-time.

Grêmio

On 10 February 2013, Santos moved to

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

after signing a one-year loan deal (with the option for Arsenal to recall him after 6 months) with Grêmio. He was contracted with the club to play in the

Libertadores ''Libertadores'' (, "Liberators") were the principal leaders of the Spanish American wars of independence from Spain and of the movement in support of Brazilian independence from Portugal. They are named that way in contrast with the ''Conquistad ...

Flamengo

Santos signed for

on a two-year contract on Thursday 18 July 2013, after his loan spell at Gremio came to an end. On 20 July 2014, Santos was attacked by a Flamengo fan following his poor performance in their 4–0 loss against Internacional. The loss meant Flamengo had accumulated 7 points in 11 games and the incident left Santos in hospital. On 15 August 2014, the fullback reached an agreement to leave the club, becoming a free agent.

FC Goa

On 29 September 2014, Santos joined

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is a professional association football league in India and the highest level of the Indian football league system. Administered by the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and its commercial partner Football Sport ...

side

FC Goa Futebol Clube de Goa is an India, Indian professional association football, football club based in Fatorda, Goa, that competes in the Indian Super League (ISL), the top tier of Football in India, Indian football. The club was established on 2 ...

. Santos had a very successful season with Goa, as he led them to the semi-finals. As Goa's key player, he scored 4 goals and provided 3 assists in the tournament.

Botafogo (SP)

On 5 February 2015 Santos joined

Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) Botafogo Futebol Clube, commonly referred to as Botafogo-SP or Botafogo de Ribeirão Preto is a Brazilian association football club in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo. They currently play in the Série B, the second tier of Brazilian football, a ...

and signed a contract till the end of the championship.

FC Wil

After joining Swiss side

FC Wil 1900 FC Wil (''Fussball Club Wil 1900'') is a football club based in Wil, Switzerland. They play in the ''Sportpark Bergholz'', which has a total capacity of 6,048. The club has consistently played in the Swiss second tier since regaining promotion ...

, Santos left the club after one season, he made 25 appearances and scored 9 goals in the Challenge League.

Boluspor

On 24 June 2016, Santos signed a two-year contract with Turkish club Boluspor.

In Russia

On July 20, 2024, at the championship of the Bryansk region, he played for free for the Sokol amateur club from the city of Seltso against Avangard from Kletnya. Sokol won 3-0.

International career

On 21 May 2009, he was called up for the first time to the Brazil national team for

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

and the

in South Africa. On 15 June 2009, he made his first international appearance as a substitute in a match against

. He then started the following four games as Brazil went on to win the competition. He was in the starting line-up in the Final against

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

but was substituted in the 66th minute of play for

Dani Alves Daniel "Dani" Alves da Silva (; born 6 May 1983) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Widely regarded as one of the best full-backs of all time, he is also one of the most decorated players with 43 trophies ...

as he earlier picked a yellow card. Brazil went on to win the match 3–2. However, he was dropped for the friendlies afterwards and Dunga preferred

Michel Bastos Michel Fernandes Bastos (born 2 August 1983) is a Brazilian retired professional Association football, footballer who mainly played as a winger (association football), left winger. Bastos started his career at hometown club Esporte Clube Pelot ...

and Gilberto on the match against

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

in February 2010. That 22-man squad against Ireland also became the backbone of

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

squad announced on 11 May. After a disappointing World Cup for the national side, Dunga was replaced by

Mano Menezes Luiz Antônio Venker Menezes (born 11 June 1962), known as Mano Menezes, is a Brazilian professional football Coach (sport), coach, currently the head coach of Grêmio FBPA, Grêmio. Menezes managed the Brazil national football team, Brazil na ...

. Under Menezes, Santos regained his spot in the starting line-up.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Corinthians *

Copa do Brasil The Copa do Brasil () is a knockout football competition played by 92 teams, representing all 26 Brazilian states plus the Federal District. It is the Brazilian domestic cup and it is the Brazilian equivalent of the FA Cup, Taça de Portugal, ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Flamengo *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Fenerbahçe *

Turkish Süper Lig Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The wor ...

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

* Süper Kupa:

International

Brazil *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBO ...

References

External links

bbc.co.uk

Arsenal Profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Santos, Andre 1983 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Figueirense FC players CR Flamengo footballers Clube Atlético Mineiro players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Arsenal F.C. players Grêmio FBPA players FC Goa players Botafogo Futebol Clube (SP) players Boluspor footballers Süper Lig players TFF 1. Lig players Premier League players Indian Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in England Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in India Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2011 Copa América players FIFA Confederations Cup–winning players Brazil men's international footballers Men's association football fullbacks FC Wil players Footballers from São Paulo 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen