Santos Elano began his career with
Guarani of
Campinas in São Paulo state. After a short spell with
Limeira's
Internacional, he joined
Santos in 2001. He made his senior debut for the latter on 21 January 2001, coming on as a
substitute for
Deivid in a 1–0
Campeonato Paulista home win against former club Guarani. His first goal for the club came on 28 April, the equalizer in a 5–1 away routing of
Mogi Mirim. Elano subsequently established himself as a starter at
Peixe, and played alongside
Robinho,
Diego and
Alex. He soon gained a reputation as a talented goalscoring midfielder, scoring a career-best 22 goals as part of the Santos side which won the
Campeonato Brasileiro in 2004. Three years at Santos produced a total of 34 goals and earned the player a transfer to the Ukrainian side
Shakhtar Donetsk on 1 February 2005.
Shakhtar Donetsk Although he was not a regular in his first season in Ukraine, Elano went on to establish his credentials as a key player and exceptional form saw him become the first player from the
Ukrainian Premier League to represent the
Brazil national team, when he was called up for the Brazil–
Norway game on 16 August 2006.
Manchester City On 2 August 2007,
Manchester City paid £8 million for Elano, who signed a four-year contract. He made his debut on the opening day of the season against
West Ham United, providing the cross for the opening goal. He played in his first
Manchester derby against
Manchester United on 19 August 2007. Elano also revealed how he enjoyed his new life in
Manchester, describing the city as beautiful, and how the weather suited him better than that which he experienced in Ukraine. He also admitted surprise at the tempo of football in the
Premier League. He was assigned with the squad number 11, previously allocated to
Darius Vassell, who switched to the number 12 shirt. On 29 September, Elano scored his first goal for City in a 3–1 win over
Newcastle United. He added two more goals on eight days later in Manchester City's 3–1 win over
Middlesbrough, one from open play about 25 yards out, and the other a curling free-kick from just outside the
penalty area. He continued his good form by scoring the only goal in a match against
Birmingham City and converting a late penalty in the
League Cup victory at
Bolton Wanderers. On 2 January 2008, he scored the first goal of 2008 at
St James' Park in Manchester City's 2–0 victory over Newcastle. Two weeks later, in the
FA Cup third round, Elano scored the winning goal as Manchester City knocked West Ham out of the competition and progressed to the fourth round. On 2 February, Elano got his fifth yellow card of the season when they played against
Arsenal, a week earlier, which meant he could not play in the 2–1 victory over rivals Manchester United. Towards the end of March and beginning of April 2008, Elano scored three penalties against
Birmingham City (3–1 defeat) and
Sunderland (2–1 victory), as well as against Bolton in the second round of the League Cup. His performances at the end of the
2007–08 season pleased the then manager
Sven-Göran Eriksson, who claimed that the "Real Elano is Back". Elano proved himself to be highly versatile, playing in many positions for Manchester City throughout the 2007–08 season, including full-back in the 3–1 home win against
Portsmouth. Elano finished the season with a goal in the 8–1 defeat at Middlesbrough on the last day of the
Premier League season. His first season saw him score ten goals and as many assists in all competitions. Elano had a fairly quiet pre-season to
2008–09, returning a bit later due to international duty. He had a good performance in the 1–0 friendly win over
Milan on 9 August 2008, creating many chances with his dominant free role in midfield, and continued his good form with a successful penalty in the 4–2 loss at
Aston Villa. He followed up with two goals in the 3–0 home win against West Ham, making him joint top scorer with
Gabriel Agbonlahor at the end of matchday two of the
Premier League. However, with the high-profile return of
Shaun Wright-Phillips and the transfer of his fellow Brazilian Robinho to the club in the early part of the 2008–09 season, there was doubt as to whether he would maintain his dominant midfield position at the club. During Robinho's first match for the club, a 3–1 defeat against
Chelsea, Elano was on the bench and was not called on to the pitch. He played a left-central midfield role in
Mark Hughes' new look side, requiring him to act as a support between left-back
Javier Garrido and forward Robinho. He scored a goal from 25 yards out against
Omonia on 2 October 2008 to help Manchester City qualify into the
group stages of the
UEFA Cup. After mixed performances off the bench, he continued his 100% penalty record with a goal from the spot with one in the
UEFA Cup quarter-final match with
Hamburger SV on 16 April 2009, another three days later in the 4–2 win over
West Bromwich Albion, and then again in a 3–1 victory over
Blackburn Rovers on 2 May.
Galatasaray Elano joined
Galatasaray on 30 July 2009, signing a four-year contract with the Turkish club. He was greeted at the airport by over 1,300 fans. Elano took the number 9 shirt, previously belonging to
Hakan Şükür. He made his debut on 20 August 2009 in a
UEFA Europa League play-off game against
Estonian side
Levadia Tallinn, coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute. He scored his first goal for the club on his home
Süper Lig debut against
Kayserispor on 23 August 2009, scoring a fantastic left-foot goal from 28 yards.
Return to Brazil Elano rejoined former club Santos on 30 November 2010 for a €2.9 million transfer deal. Galatasaray will also receive 50% of the transfer profit (the revenue minus €2.9 million) should Santos sell him to another club on or before 31 December 2012 for higher than €2.9 million. On 19 January 2011, Santos announced that the club sold 20% economic rights for future transfer revenue to an investment group, Terceira Estrela Investimentos S/A (TEISA) for
R$ 1.56 million, or 20% cost that Santos paid (R$7.8 million). It is because Santos bought Elano for €2.9 million (R$6.6 million) plus R$1.2 million tax. On his return to Brazilian football, he was top scorer of the
2011 Campeonato Paulista alongside the
Corinthians striker
Liédson, with 11 goals. On 8 July 2012, it was announced that Elano would join
Grêmio. After being swapped for striker
Ezequiel Miralles, he signed a three-year contract with the
Porto Alegre-based club. Elano had a brief spell at
Flamengo in 2014, joining the club on loan from Grêmio in January; he stayed until August, when the deal was canceled by the
Rio de Janeiro-based club. The midfielder returned to Grêmio following his departure from Flamengo, but his return did not last, as his contract was terminated by mutual consent on 22 August 2014.
Chennaiyin On 20 September 2014, Elano signed for
Chennaiyin in the
Indian Super League (ISL)'s
debut season. He signed for a three-month contract for US$1 million through the club's technical partner and CEO of Kshatriya Sports Prashant Agarwal. He qualified as the marquee player of the club and scored from a free kick on his debut at
FC Goa, in a 2–1 victory on 15 October 2014, making him the first marquee player to score in the ISL. With two goals — a penalty and a free kick — and two assists in Chennaiyin's 5–1 win over
Mumbai City on 28 October, he topped the ISL scoring chart with five goals in four games. He finished the season as the league's top scorer with eight goals, but also spent time back in Brazil for recuperation following an injury suffered against
Pune City. On 6 January 2015, it was reported that Elano was now a free agent and would be pursuing a move back to Brazil.
Second return to Santos On 13 January 2015, Elano agreed to a short-term deal with Santos, returning to the club for a third spell. He debuted in his third spell on 1 February, coming on as a second-half
substitute for
Thiago Ribeiro in a 3–0 home win against
Ituano. In May, he renewed his contract for a further season. On 17 June 2015, however, Elano agreed to a loan back to former club
Chennaiyin in the
Indian Super League, again as their marquee player. During his second season with the team, Elano helped Chennaiyin win the
ISL championship, defeating
Goa 3–2 on 20 December 2015. However, following the final, Elano was involved in controversy in which he was arrested by the Goan police for allegedly assaulting Goa co-owner Dattaraj Salgaocar. Elano was released after spending the night with the Goan police before returning to Brazil the next day. Following the incident, Elano plead his innocence while video of the altercation between him and Salgaocar showed Elano trying to calm the situation down instead of trying to start a conflict. Returning to
Peixe in January 2016, Elano appeared rarely for the club. On 24 November of that year, he announced his upcoming retirement from professional football after the expiration of his contract in December, becoming
Dorival Júnior's assistant manager for the
2017 campaign. Elano's last professional match occurred on 11 December 2016, as he came on for
Lucas Lima in a 1–0 home win against
América Mineiro. He ended his career with 322 matches and 68 goals only for Santos. ==International career==