Guarani Alex joined
Guarani in 2000 and played his first match in a youth match against Capivari. Upon joining Guarani, he recalled "We did not have enough to eat and ended up at a club partner of Guarani in disrepair." In 2003, he made his debut in the first team match against
União Barbarense. At Guarani, he quickly became a team regular, spent two seasons at 54 games and scored 7 goals. He also played left wing and was the main corner taker and as well, free kicks.
Internacional Alex joined
Internacional from
Guarani on 11 March 2004 for a fee of €450,000, signing a four-year deal. Shortly after his move, he said, "It is an honour to play at a club with four Brazilian bonds and the largest crowd of the Rio Grande". However, in August, his debut was delayed after suffering an ankle injury, resulting in being out for three months. Between 2004 and 2005, he was unable to establish himself in the first team. The following season, Alex was in hospital due to injury, and by the end of the season, the club won the title of
Campeonato Gaúcho. In February, he suffered an injury to his right knee, keeping him out for four months. During a match in Libertadores Cup, he suffered an injury on his pubis. While in the first team, he played in the positions of left midfielder and second striker. After recovering from the pubis injury, Alex returned in a 1–0 win over
Esporte Clube Novo Hamburgo on 18 March 2006. After the match, he was voted the man of the match by the club's official website. In the second round of Libertadores, he played as a starter in a 2–1 win over
Nacional. From then on, Alex established himself as a starter and key player under coach
Abel Braga. In the semi-final of Libertadores in the second leg after a 0–0 draw in the first leg, Alex scored and helped the club, ending a long-awaited place in the
final of the Libertadores against
São Paulo. The club won the title 4–3 on aggregate. Because of the club's winning the Copa Libertadores, the club participated in the FIFA Club World Cup. Alex suffered an injury, but eventually recovered and played an important role in the
final as Internacional beat
Barcelona 1–0. After the tournament, he was linked with a move to Russian club
CSKA Moscow after being recommended by
Paulo Paixão, but the move never happened. The next season, Alex suffered an injury to his muscles of both hips, resulting him out for two months. He recovered from the injury and was an important member of the team as he led the club winning the
Recopa Sudamericana after beating
Pachuca 5–2 on aggregate, which he scored on the penalty in the second leg. In the summer transfer of 2007, he was linked with an 8 million move to German side
VfL Wolfsburg, but it never happened. Among those interested was Barcelona, but they signed someone instead. Once again in December, Alex suffered a pubis injury caused by an inguinal hernia. In his final season, he chose the number 10 shirt. Manager Braga began to put Alex at the center of the field. In the
Copa Sudamericana, he become a top scorer with 13 goals, along with
Nilmar, and was voted the best player in the tournament. In the final of
Copa Sudamericana Finals against
Estudiantes, Alex scored in the penalty, giving the only goal in the game in the first-leg. In the second-leg, the club won the Copa Sudamericana again after a 1–1 draw. On 6 July 2008, Alex scored a hat-trick in a 3–0 win over
Coritiba. In the summer transfer of 2008, he was in the transfer spotlight when he was linked with a move to Spartak Moscow worth €14 million. However, the potential buyers has not been reached.
Spartak Moscow Alex joined
Spartak Moscow in February 2009 for a transfer worth €5 million and on a contract keeping him there, until 2013. After leaving Brazil for Russia, Alex explained his departure, stating the time had come for him to play in Europe and against his wishes to stay for the rest of his career at Internacional. On 2 March 2009, he was presented by the club and was given the number 12 shirt. Alex made his debut for the club, where he made his first start and played 90 minutes, in a 1–1 draw against
Zenit Saint Petersburg on the opening game of the season. Two weeks after the opening game of the season, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over
Spartak Nalchik when he scored in a free-kick. On 23 May 2009, he scored a brace in a 5–1 win over
Amkar Perm. In his first season, he had an optimal season, with the club second place, missing out to become first place behind
Rubin Kazan, who won the title for the second time, as Alex made 29 appearances, scoring 12 goals and providing 9 assists. In a match against Amkar Perm, Alex was given a captaincy and made a double assist in a 2–1 win. The following season, Alex did not make a bright start, as in the previous last season. In a match against Spartak Nalchik on 25 April 2010, he received a second bookable offence in a 0–0 draw. Due to lack of his performance earlier in the season, Manager
Valery Karpin spoke out about Alex, claiming he had a problem with psychology. On 21 July 2010, Alex made a fourth assist in a 5–3 win over
Sibir Novosibirsk. With the departure of
Martin Jiránek to
Birmingham City in August, Alex was named the new captain of Spartak after just one and a half seasons with the club. During a match against Alania Vladikavkaz on 15 October 2010, he scored in a penalty spot but suffered an injury on the muscles of his right thigh. By 7 November, he made his return in a 1–1 draw against Rubin Kazan (which turned out to be the last league appearance of the season). In the Champions League campaign, he made his debut in a 1–0 win over
Marseille on the opening game of the group stage. In the first game against
MŠK Žilina, he set up a goal for
Ari in a 3–0 win. In the second game, he scored and set up a goal for
Ibson in a 2–1 win in the final game of the group stage, resulting in the club going to the Europa League. At the end of the season, Alex had made 27 games and scored 5 goals. is kicked in the background The following season, Alex made a few appearance until his move back to Brazil. He played his first match in the Europa League where he made a double assist in a 3–2 win over
Basel in the first leg. The club advanced to the next round after a 1–1 draw in the second leg. Against
Ajax, he scored twice in each leg and the club won both games against Ajax before losing to Porto in both leg 10–3 on aggregate. In the semi-final of the
Russian Cup, he made his last appearance in a 5–4 loss against CSKA Moscow. In April 2011, he announced his intention to leave Spartak Moscow. This was later explained as his wife was seven months pregnant and feared a miscarriage. However, his son was born prematurely and he needed to support his wife. Alex was also struggling with the freezing weather as another reason he wanted to leave despite being content on the pitch. After leaving the club, he made his final interview and apologised to Spartak's fans.
Corinthians On 13 May 2011, Spartak agreed the transfer of Alex to Corinthians for 6 million and signed until 2014. Four days later, on 17 May, he was presented by the club in São Paulo. One month since joining Corinthians on 30 June 2011, he made his debut in a 1–0 win over
Bahia. 38 days later, he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw against
Atlético Paranaense. After scoring his first goal, he scored three more in three games. During a match against
Santos on 18 September in a 3–1 loss, Alex collapsed on the field and was immediately taken to Hospital São Luiz. Despite serious concerns, he was released after no injuries were found by a CT scan. At the end of the season, the club won their first league title in six years and also won the
Copa Libertadores Finals. In the final, Alex played in attacking midfield in both legs. For Corinthians, Alex played 56 games and scored nine goals.
Al-Gharafa For €6 million, on 17 July 2012, Alex left
Corinthians and was transferred to Qatari side
Al-Gharafa, where he joined his Brazilian compatriots
Diego Tardelli and
Afonso Alves. Two months after signing for the club, Alex made his debut in a 2–0 loss against
Al-Wakrah. On 21 October 2012, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over
El Jaish. In January 2013,
Nenê was recruited by Al-Gharafa from
Paris Saint-Germain, meaning that Alex had to leave the club as the foreign players' quota was reached, as announced on the Qatar Stars League official website. However, the departure of Diego Tardelli a week later led to the reinstatement of Alex, who would continue with Al-Gharafa until the end of the season.
Return to Internacional On 20 July 2013, just one day after joining Al-Gharafa the previous year, Alex made a return to
Internacional for worth €3 million and signed a deal with them, until 2015. == International career ==