Carlos Vinicius

Carlos Vinicius Alves Morais was born on March 25, 1995, in Bom Jesus das Selvas, Brazil. His football journey began in the youth ranks of Goiás in 2009 as a central defender. He continued his youth development at Santos in 2011, which included a loan period at Desportivo Brasil, and later at Palmeiras from 2014 to 2015. A pivotal moment in his early career occurred in February 2015, when coach Marcos Valadares converted him to a centre-forward, leading to immediate success with the U20s.

His senior career commenced in 2016 with Caldense, where he initially played as a defensive midfielder before moving to Grêmio Anápolis in May 2017. It was during a friendly match with Grêmio Anápolis that he was repositioned as a forward and scored two goals, attracting the attention of Portuguese scouts. This led to a loan move to Real S.C. in Portugal in July 2017, marking his entry into European football. At Real S.C., he scored a hat-trick on his league debut and finished the season with 20 goals in 39 matches.

Vinicius’ career progressed with a transfer to Italian club Napoli for approximately €4 million in January 2018. Over the subsequent years, he was loaned to several European clubs, including Rio Ave, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and PSV Eindhoven, consistently demonstrating his goal-scoring abilities. Notably, during his time at Benfica from 2019 to 2022, he received the Bola de Prata award for scoring 18 goals in the 2019–20 Primeira Liga season. He was part of Fulham F.C. from 2022 to 2025, which included a loan spell at Galatasaray SK, where he contributed to their Süper Lig title win in 2023–24. In July 2025, he returned to Brazil, signing a one-year contract with Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense.