Born in
Marília,
São Paulo, Guilherme started his professional career at age 18 with local
Marília AC. After a few games,
São Paulo FC manager
Telê Santana signed him, and he played a relatively important part in the club's conquests in the following two years: the
Supercopa Sudamericana, the
Copa Libertadores, the
Intercontinental Cup, the
Copa CONMEBOL and the
Recopa Sudamericana. In January 1995, Guilherme left for Spain and joined
Rayo Vallecano, scoring 14 goals in only 17 matches (half-a-season) as the team
achieved promotion to
La Liga. During the following two campaigns, he continued to net in double digits, but they returned to the
second division at the end of
the latter. In 1997, Guilherme returned to his country with
Grêmio. In the following year he moved to
Vasco da Gama, where he was very rarely played, but also helped to the
Torneio Rio – São Paulo conquest. Still in 1999, Guilherme signed with
Atlético Mineiro, where he experienced his best years as a professional. In
the year's
Série A, he was crowned top scorer by breaking the record which belonged to club legend
Reinaldo, and led the team to the vice-championship. Guilherme played one year on loan with
Corinthians, scoring twice in his debut, a 3–2 home win against
Internacional. However, his stay was marred by a serious
car accident which resulted in the death of two persons. He never regained his previous form with Corinthians, and after leaving Atlético for good (with a total of 139 official goals), represented
Al-Ittihad of
Saudi Arabia. In the year 2004, Guilherme signed for
Cruzeiro, scoring 13 goals in 50 competitive games and helping the team to the
Campeonato Mineiro. He finished his career in the following year, with
Botafogo; he suffered a serious injury while at the service of the latter and, whilst recovering from his condition at Corinthians, severely hurt his
thigh and decided to end his career, at 31. ==International career==