Brazil Born in
São Paulo, Diogo started his football career at
Associação Portuguesa de Desportos. He quickly made a name for himself at the club, breaking into the first team in
2007 and contributing largely to a promotion to the
Série A, scoring 18 goals in 28 games – season's best – and being voted the competition's best player. It was this form which initially prompted
Brazilian under-20 coach Nélson Rodrigues to include Diogo in his team (he had already played in previous national youth sides). In
2008 he had his first taste of top-flight football with Portuguesa, and showed early good form with six goals in 13 matches. Early in the same year, president Manuel da Lupa said he was as good as if not better than
AC Milan's teenage sensation
Alexandre Pato; he added that the player had only shown 50% of his capability due to consistent injuries. In July 2008, several teams had been attracted to Diogo's talents, and the player revealed his desire to play his trade in Europe after longtime admirers
Arsenal were joined by
ACF Fiorentina in bidding for his services. He had been monitored by the former's scouting department for more than two years, and offers included a
£9,000,000 one, promptly rejected by Portuguesa; Arsenal manager
Arsène Wenger also publicly stated that he had tried to sign him once, as a 16-year-old.
Olympiacos Olympiacos F.C. also became interested and, in a widely documented and somewhat controversial period of negotiation, Diogo finally signed for the Greek club in August 2008, for
€9 million and 70% of the player's rights. After passing his medical, he agreed to a five-year contract. Diogo made his first appearance in
the season's opener, against
Asteras Tripolis F.C. on 30 August 2008. On 6 September he scored from the
penalty spot against
Ionikos FC, in a
friendly. In the second round, he netted the game's only goal at
Xanthi FC. During his first campaign he also showcased his good heading ability by scoring many of his goals from
headers, being at one point the player with more goals with that specific body part at four. In
that year's
UEFA Cup, Diogo scored twice in the 5–0 home victory over
FC Nordsjælland on 2 October, adding two more in a 5–1 defeat of
S.L. Benfica the following month, also in the group stage and at
Karaiskakis Stadium. Hence, heightened rumours of a big-money transfer to Europe's elite – and again to England – surfaced, whilst the player was ranked seventh (out of 50) in
The Daily Telegraph's list of
Footballers Transfer Target List; eventually, the
Piraeus team won
the double. Further interest arose in October 2008, now from three other
Premier League sides,
Middlesbrough,
Chelsea and
Liverpool. The latter's coach,
Rafa Benítez, again declared interest in the player in March of the following year, preparing to offer
£12 million to acquire his services.
Anfield scouts had been said to have checked on him, seeing him as a perfect replacement for the departed
Robbie Keane; Benítez then loaned
Sebastián Leto to Olympiacos, further fueling rumours that the player would be included in a swap deal, but nothing came to fruition, with Leto instead moving to
Panathinaikos FC. Diogo's
second season was disastrous for both him and the team, suffering several injuries which limited to just slightly more than half of the games, scoring just two goals and losing his place in the starting lineup to
Kostantinos Mitroglou. He started
2010–11 by netting twice against
Besa Kavajë of
Albania in a 5–0 away win (11–1 on aggregate) in
the Europa League. In the competition's next round, however, against
Maccabi Tel Aviv FC, he was
sent off after punching opposing
goalkeeper Liran Strauber, in a 1–0 away loss that also meant the Greeks' elimination on the
away goals rule.
Back to Brazil Diogo returned to Brazil on 19 August 2010, being loaned to
CR Flamengo. Six months later, he joined
Santos FC also on loan, failing to perform overall and returning to Olympiacos in January 2012, being excluded from the squad later that year.
Buriram United On 31 December 2014, Diogo signed a two-year contract with
Buriram United F.C. from the
Thai League 1. He scored in his debut on
24 January 2015, helping his new team to defeat
Bangkok Glass F.C. 1–0 in the
Kor Royal Cup. Diogo scored 45 goals in 51 competitive games in his
first season, as Buriram became the first Asian side to
win five titles in one year. He also managed to finish top scorer of the domestic league twice, scoring 133 times overall which was a record at the organisation.
Johor Darul Ta'zim On 3 January 2019,
Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. announced the signing of Diogo for an approximate fee of €1.5 million, the highest ever paid by a Malaysian club. In December 2023, after having won several honours including three
Super League – he also returned to Thailand to represent
BG Pathum United F.C. before heading back to the
Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in 2022 – the 36-year-old announced his retirement. ==International career==