Early career Dante joined
Juventude's youth system in 2001 and by 2002 became a part of the club's first team setup. In 2004, he made his move to European football, signing for
Lille in
France. After two seasons with the club where he only featured in 12 league games, Dante moved to Belgium, signing for
Charleroi in 2006. After a successful campaign in the
Belgian Pro League for Charleroi where he made 27 appearances and helped the club to a respectable fifth-place finish, he moved across the country to
Standard Liège. Dante had a successful debut season with the Belgian giants, as Standard were crowned league champions; the Brazilian defender proving to be an integral member, missing just one league match. In his second season with Standard, he featured in the first 15 league matches of the campaign before interest from Germany sent the player to the
Bundesliga.
Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2011 Dante joined German side
Borussia Mönchengladbach on 27 December 2008 for an undisclosed transfer fee, signing a contract with the club until summer 2013. His first goal for the club came against eventual champions
VfL Wolfsburg on 11 April but it came in a losing effort as 'Gladbach fell 2–1 thanks to a late strike by defender
Sascha Riether. The Brazilian scored a dramatic late winner against
Energie Cottbus on 13 May, heading in a cross from winger
Marko Marin to give the club a 1–0 win in the 91st minute. On the final day of the
Bundesliga season on 23 May 2009, Dante scored 'Gladbach's only goal in a 1–1 draw with
Borussia Dortmund, a point which meant the club avoided immediate relegation to the
2. Bundesliga. In the opening fixture of the
2009–10 Bundesliga campaign on 9 August 2009, Dante received a red card for a bad foul as Mönchengladbach relinquished a 3–0 lead against VfL Bochum, drawing 3–3. He scored his first goal of the campaign on 31 October, heading home a corner in the 76th minute to draw the match level at 2–2 and an 82nd-minute strike from
Rob Friend handed 'Gladbach a 3–2 victory over
Hamburger SV. On 9 April 2010, Dante headed in a free-kick from
Juan Arango to double 'Gladbach's lead, resulting in a 2–0 defeat of
Eintracht Frankfurt that all but secured Bundesliga survival. The
2010–11 campaign proved to be another difficult campaign for 'Gladbach. Dante only featured in 17 league matches as he battled against persistent injury and the club finished in 16th place, the relegation play-off spot. However, Dante did play the full 90 minutes in each play-off match against VfL Bochum as Borussia Mönchengladbach managed a 2–1 aggregate victory to remain in the German top flight for the 2011–12 season. The following season proved much more successful as Dante featured in 38 matches in all competitions, playing the full 90 minutes in each. In January 2012, he hinted he could leave the club before his contract expired in June 2014, revealing to the press he desired to play for a top club in Germany, singling out
Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund and
Bayer Leverkusen. Dante was influential as the club made a run to the semi-finals of the
DFB-Pokal where the club lost 4–2 on penalties to Bayern Munich on 21 March 2012, with Dante and
Håvard Nordtveit missing their penalties to give Bayern a spot in the final with champions Borussia Dortmund.
Bayern Munich in 2014 On 26 April 2012, Dante agreed to join Bayern Munich at the start of the
2012–13 season for an estimated transfer fee of €4.7 million.
2012–13 Dante's first appearance for the club came in the
DFL-Supercup on 12 August 2012, starting at centre-back in Bayern's 2–1 defeat of Borussia Dortmund. He made his Bundesliga debut for the Bavarian giants on 25 August as Bayern cruised to a 3–0 opening day victory over promoted side
Greuther Fürth. He scored his first competitive goal for the team in a 5–0 thrashing of
Hannover 96 on 24 November 2012. Dante made an immediate impact at Bayern, earning a place in the starting 11 and forming partnerships with the interchanging
Holger Badstuber,
Daniel Van Buyten and
Jérôme Boateng in the centre of defence. Following the defender's impressive start with
Die Roten, head coach
Jupp Heynckes told media Dante was one of the first names on the team sheet, with club captain
Phillip Lahm supporting the manager's sentiments: "Dante is one of the best defenders I've ever played with." He secured his first Bundesliga title since moving to Germany after a 1–0 defeat of Eintracht Frankfurt on 6 April 2013 and was seen celebrating with the supporters in the stands following the result. In the
Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund, Dante conceded a penalty for a rash challenge but failed to receive a red card in an entertaining 2–1 victory for the Bavarians. With Dante at the heart the defence, Bayern broke
records for fewest goals conceded and most
clean sheets in a Bundesliga season during their
treble-winning campaign.
2013–14 In new manager
Pep Guardiola's first
Bundesliga match, against Dante's former club Borussia Mönchengladbach, Dante scored an own goal after a mix-up with goalkeeper
Manuel Neuer. The match nonetheless ended in a 3–1 victory for Bayern. On 21 December 2013, Dante scored the opening goal as Bayern beat
Raja Casablanca 2–0 in the
final of the
2013 FIFA Club World Cup. In February 2014, Dante scored three goals in the space of four matches for Bayern, in Bundesliga wins over Eintracht Frankfurt (5–0) and
SC Freiburg (4–0) and a
DFB-Pokal victory over Hamburger SV (5–0). On 24 March 2014, Dante extended his contract with Bayern until June 2017.
VfL Wolfsburg On 30 August 2015, Dante agreed to move to
VfL Wolfsburg for an undisclosed transfer fee. On 13 January 2016, Dante injured teammate
Bas Dost in training.
Nice On 22 August 2016, VfL Wolfsburg announced the departure of Dante to French
Ligue 1 side
Nice, with which he signed a three-year contract. On 18 February 2018, he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw with
Nantes. On 8 February 2025, at the age of 41, Dante made his 250th league appearance and 300th overall appearance for Nice. Shortly after, he signed a one year extension with the club, keeping him there until the end of the 2025–26 season. ==Fan culture==