Marcos Leonardo Santos Almeida (born 2 May 2003), known as Marcos 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

club Al-Hilal.

Club career

Santos

Born in

Itapetinga Itapetinga, Bahia, Brazil is a municipality in the state of Bahia in the North-East region of Brazil. Its population in 2020, according to estimates by the IBGE, was 76,795, so it is the 24th most populous municipality of Bahia. Climate Sist ...

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 ...

, Marcos Leonardo moved to

Taubaté Taubaté is a medium-sized city in the state of São Paulo, in southeastern Brazil. History Taubaté was part of the ancient Tupinambá Territory, along the Paraíba do Sul River. The Tupinambá Territory in the 16th century, stretched from ...

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 ...

in May 2014, and joined Santos' youth setup in August, after a trial. On 23 October 2019, he signed his first professional contract with the club, agreeing to a three-year deal. On 21 July 2020, Marcos Leonardo was one of the five youth graduates registered for the year's

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), ...

. He made his professional – and Série A – debut on 20 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for

Yeferson Soteldo Yeferson Julio Soteldo Martínez (; born 30 June 1997) is a Venezuelan professional association football, footballer who plays for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Fluminense FC, Fluminense and the Venezuela national football team, Venezuela ...

in a 1–0 away win against

Sport Recife Sport Club do Recife (), commonly known as Sport Recife or simply Sport, is a Brazilian sports club, located in Recife, Pernambuco. Founded in 1905, the club currently competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of football i ...

. On 15 September 2020, Marcos Leonardo made his

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

debut by replacing

Raniel Raniel Santana de Vasconcelos (born 11 June 1996), simply known as Raniel (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward or a winger for Thai League 1 club BG Pathum United. Club career Santa Cruz Born in Recife, Pernam ...

in a 0–0 home draw against

Club Olimpia Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan professional sports club based in the city of Asunción. It promotes the practice of various sports, with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, football being the most successful. Fou ...

. He scored his first professional goal on 4 October, netting his team's third in a 3–2 away win against

Goiás Goiás () is a Brazilian States of Brazil, state located in the Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region. Goiás borders the Federal District (Brazil), Federal District and the states of (from north clockwise) Tocantins, Bahia, Minas Ge ...

. On 20 October 2020, Marcos Leonardo scored the winner in a 2–1 home success over

Defensa y Justicia Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.

, becoming the sixth-youngest to score in the Libertadores, and the fourth-youngest Brazilian. He spent the 2021 campaign as a backup option, initially behind fellow youth graduate Kaio Jorge and subsequently behind new signing

Léo Baptistão Leonardo "Leo" Carrilho Baptistão (born 26 August 1992) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Segunda División club Almería. Mainly a forward, he can also play as a right winger. Baptistão spent most of his career in Spain fr ...

. On 15 January 2022, Marcos Leonardo agreed to renew his contract with Santos until 2026. He became an undisputed starter, and started to score regularly for the club in the following years, becoming one of the 50 top goalscorers of their history after a winning goal against

Palmeiras The Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras (), commonly known as Palmeiras, is a Brazilian professional association football, football club based in the city of São Paulo, in the district of Perdizes (district of São Paulo), Perdizes. Palmeiras is ...

on 8 October 2023.

Benfica

On 5 January 2024, Marcos Leonardo moved to Portugal, signing a five-and-a-half-year contract with

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club Benfica, for a reported transfer fee of €18 million, with Santos having the right to 10% of the profit the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

-based club receive from a future transfer. His release clause was set at €150 million. On each of his first three league games for Benfica, against

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

, Boavista and

Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela Amadora SAD (), sometimes just Estrela da Amadora, is a Portuguese professional sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. The team is currently competing in the Primeira Liga, after winnin ...

, Marcos Leonardo came on as a substitute during the second half and scored, helping seal 4–1, 2–0 and 4–1 victories, respectively. On 15 February 2024, he made his

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

debut, coming off the bench to replace Arthur Cabral in the final minutes of a knockout round play-off match at home to

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

; he won a penalty that

Ángel Di María Ángel Fabián Di María (; born 14 February 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a right winger for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Argentine players of all time and one of the best pl ...

converted, allowing Benfica to win by 2–1.

Al Hilal

On 2 September 2024, Marcos Leonardo joined

club Al Hilal on a five-year contract. On 30 June 2025, in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

2025 FIFA Club World Cup The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (officially known as the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, also marketed as FIFA Club World Cup 25) is the 21st edition and the first of the expanded FIFA Club World Cup, an international club soccer competition organized ...

, Leonardo scored twice, including the winning goal in extra-time as Al Hilal defeated

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

4–3 to advance to the Quarter-finals.

International career

Marcos Leonardo represented

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 ...

at under-17 level, playing in the 2019

Montaigu Tournament The Montaigu Tournament () is an international association football competition that is contested by under-16 national teams and clubs. The tournament is also known as Mondial Minimes. The games are held in stadiums located in the Vendée depart ...

and UEFA Development Tournament. On 12 February 2021, he and Santos teammate Renyer were called up to the under-18s.

Personal life

Marcos Leonardo's father, known as Marcos Coringa, was also a footballer and a forward. He would only appear in amateur tournaments in his native Bahia, however.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

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 ...

Silver Boot:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Player of the Month: January 2025

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcos Leonardo 2003 births Living people People from Itapetinga Footballers from Bahia Brazilian men's footballers Brazil men's youth international footballers Brazil men's under-20 international footballers Men's association football forwards Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Primeira Liga players Saudi Pro League players Santos FC players S.L. Benfica footballers Al Hilal SFC players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen