Early career Born in
Campina Grande,
Paraíba, Hulk started playing professionally with Esporte Clube Vitória in
Salvador, Bahia, where he signed his first professional contract with the club at age 16. While progressing through the Esporte Clube Vitória's youth system, Hulk played in a left winger, midfielder, forward and fullback. Despite having been purchased on 15 January 2006, Hulk was loaned to second division
Consadole Sapporo, effective on 1 February, where he was even more effective, scoring 37 goals in 42 matches and being the top goal scorer of the season. He briefly returned to Kawasaki in 2008 and rejoined Verdy after only 18 matches.
Porto After Hulk's stay in Japan, he moved to Portugal to join
defending champions Porto, who purchased 50% of his playing rights for €5.5 million from Uruguayan side
Rentistas, with the transfer fee being received by an
unnamed investor. When Moroccan teammate
Tarik Sektioui suffered an injury, Hulk was given an opportunity to play forward and scored his first official domestic league goal for Porto in a 2–0 home win against
C.F. Os Belenenses, later adding against
F.C. Paços de Ferreira (same venue and result), both as a second-half
substitute. As
the season advanced, he became an undisputed starter, forming an attacking trio with
Cristian Rodríguez and
Lisandro López, with the trio often shifting positions. After some stellar performances in
the season's
UEFA Champions League, he was elected as one of the
Top 10 Rising Stars by
UEFA.com. In late August 2009, he extended his contract to June 2014, with a buy-out clause increased to €100 million. In the
2009–10 season, Hulk established as an automatic first-choice. However, following a tunnel brawl during the
league loss against
S.L. Benfica (1–0) on 20 December 2009, he received a four-month ban (if the disciplinary hearing upheld the ban, he faced up to three years on the sidelines), only for the domestic competitions, as did his teammate
Cristian Săpunaru. The ban was later reduced to four matches, and the player returned to league action on 28 March 2010 after missing 3 months and 18 matches, scoring in a 3–0 win at Belenenses. One week later, he also scored in a 4–1 home victory over
C.S. Marítimo. With six less matches played than the previous season, he ended with five league goals. in 2010 Hulk started the
2010–11 season scoring 16 times in his first 16 official matches, including a
hat-trick against
K.R.C. Genk in the
UEFA Europa League play-off stage, on 26 August 2010 (4–2 home win, 7–2 on aggregate). From September to January, he won the
Portuguese Championship Player of the Month, making him the only player to have won the award six times. On 7 November 2010, he scored the last two goals as Porto trounced Benfica 5–0 at home, creating a ten-point difference between the two teams, with the northerners leading the league, and eventually winning it, with the player leading the goalscoring charts. On 13 May 2011, Porto paid €13.5 million to Rentistas for another 40% of Hulk's playing rights, bringing their total stake to 85% (Porto sold back 5% after renewing his contract in 2009), with the player signing a new contract valid until 2016 and with a buy-out clause of €100 million. He finished the season with 36 goals in 53 official matches, with his team winning four major titles, including a league/
cup double. On 7 April 2012, Hulk scored the solitary goal as Porto defeated
S.C. Braga away to go four points clear at the top of the Primeira Liga table. He scored six goals in the following three matches, including a brace in a 2–0 home defeat of
Sporting CP, and finished the
2011–12 season with 16 league goals as his team won another national championship. In May 2012, he was voted the Player of the Month for April for a record sixth time, and he added 11
assists, a competition best. On 17 February 2014, Hulk was ordered to pay a €45,000 fine for assaulting two stewards at the
Estádio da Luz.
Zenit On 3 September 2012, Hulk completed
a transfer of €60 million, with Porto receiving €40 million, to
Russian Premier League club
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, reuniting with former Porto teammate
Bruno Alves. This transfer fee caused a lot of debate and a great stir since Mitrofanov, General director from Zenit denied publicly. Russian media R-Sport even claimed that Mitrofanov had shown the media the sales contract and the fee on the contract was €40 million and not €60 million. However, Porto also confirmed in its unaudited quarterly report in Q1 2012–13 that the club did not pay for third parties ownership (15%), agent fee nor
solidarity contribution (5%), which all normally included in the transfer fee, as in the case of
Radamel Falcao. Hulk scored his first goal for his new club in only his second league match, against
FC Krylia Sovetov Samara, finding the net with a trademark shot from outside the box in a 2–2 away draw. In the second half of September, media speculation reported that teammates
Igor Denisov and
Aleksandr Kerzhakov were unsatisfied with Hulk's wage, and that they demanded renegotiation of their contracts. As a result, they were sent to the youth squad. Denisov replied in an interview with
Sport Express stating that his stand-off with club management was over "the proper organisation of the team. And respect for the Russian players which Zenit has always relied upon". Eventually, he revealed he made amends with the club's management and that things have been resolved. In a 3–1 loss against the Ukrainian side of
Shakhtar Donetsk, he suffered a head injury after falling under a challenge and connecting his head with a Shakhtar defender's studs in the second half. He was then taken to a local
Dubai hospital. Following Zenit's third-place finish in the Champions League group stage, the club entered into the Europa League. He scored a goal in each leg of Zenit's knockout phase match to eliminate English side
Liverpool from the Europa League in the
round of 32 by away goals, despite losing 3–1 in the second leg. On 4 May 2013, he scored his first hat-trick of his Zenit career and assisted a goal, in a 4–0 win over league strugglers
Alania Vladikavkaz. On 16 February 2015, Hulk signed two-year contract extension with the club. On 17 May, his free kick in a 1–1 draw at
FC Ufa gave Zenit
the league title with two matches to spare. Hulk was due to be an assistant at the draw for
2018 World Cup qualification in
Saint Petersburg, but withdrew due to commitments with Zenit, being replaced by
Alexey Smertin. Hulk was named by UEFA as one of the top XI players of the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League group stage.
Shanghai SIPG in 2017 On 30 June 2016, Hulk joined Chinese club
Shanghai SIPG from Zenit for a reported £45 million, an Asian football record. He would earn £320,000 per week, accumulating to £16.6 million per year. On 10 July, Hulk forced
Ryan McGowan's own goal nine minutes into his debut in a 5–0 win over
Henan Jianye. However, just 12 minutes later, he was stretchered off the pitch with a muscle injury. On 9 September, Hulk scored his first two goals for Shanghai SIPG against
Beijing Guoan after a two-month injury lay-off. Hulk made a total of 145 appearances and scored a total of 77 goals across all competitions during his time in Shanghai.
Atlético Mineiro 2021: Top scorer in both the Série A and Copa do Brasil On 29 January 2021, Hulk returned to Brazil and joined
Atlético Mineiro on a two-year contract. He made his debut on 7 March, assisting the fourth goal for
Diego Tardelli in a 4–0
Campeonato Mineiro win over
Uberlândia. On 19 March, he scored his first goal for the club, from a penalty kick, in a 3–0 win over
Coimbra. After a tough spell in April, with six games without scoring and being relegated to the bench, Hulk picked up his form in the
Copa Libertadores against
América de Cali and
Cerro Porteño, scoring a brace in each game. On 22 May, Atlético were crowned the Campeonato Mineiro champions, and Hulk was voted by journalists into the team of the tournament. On 17 July, Hulk scored both goals in a 2–1 turnaround win over
Corinthians, in the
Série A. In the next round, he again scored twice in a 3–0 win over
Bahia. On 21 November, he became top scorer of the league after yet another brace in a 2–0 win over
Juventude. On 2 December, when Atlético played for the league title and was 2–0 down against Bahia at the
Fonte Nova arena, Hulk kick-started a comeback by scoring from a penalty; five minutes later, a brace from
Keno snatched the three points that secured the 2021 Série A trophy to
Galo. In the following match, a 4–3 win over
Red Bull Bragantino at the
Mineirão, Hulk scored his 19th goal in 35 appearances, ending the league season as top scorer. Hulk appeared in all ten matches of Atlético's
Copa do Brasil-winning campaign, scoring once in eight of them, including both legs of the
final against
Athletico Paranaense. He became only the second player to be top scorer in both the Série A and Copa do Brasil in a same season, repeating
Gabriel Barbosa's feat in 2018. Hulk was the country's top scorer in 2021, with a total of 36 goals in 68 appearances, while also providing 13 assists. His central role in Atlético's
domestic treble-winning season earned him the
Bola de Ouro,
Craque do Brasileirão and Copa do Brasil Golden Ball awards. He was also included in
CONMEBOL's Libertadores Team of the Tournament and
El País'
South American Team of the Year.
2022–23: Back-to-back Campeonato Mineiro titles In the
2022 Supercopa do Brasil against Flamengo on 20 February 2022, Hulk scored a second-half equalizer to tie the match at 2–2 and then converted two penalties in an eventual 8–7 shootout victory. At the end of the match, he received the award for best player of the competition. On 16 March, Hulk renewed his contract until the end of 2024, with the option to extend until 2025. The following week, on 23 March, he scored both goals in the 2–0 victory over
Caldense in the first leg of the
2022 Campeonato Mineiro semifinals, becoming the top scorer at the
Mineirão with 32 goals, overtaking
Giorgian de Arrascaeta. In the final on 2 April, Hulk scored twice in a 3–1 win over Cruzeiro, thus lifting his fourth trophy for Atlético in a four-month period. He finished the tournament as its top scorer, with ten goals in eight appearances. In the first matchday of the
Série A, Hulk scored both goals in a 2–0 victory against Internacional. On 19 May, he scored a brace in a 3–1 victory over
Independiente del Valle, which secured his side's spot in the round of 16 of the Copa Libertadores. The following week, on 28 May, he made his 88th appearance for Atlético in a Copa Libertadores loss to
Deportes Tolima, drawing level with
Ronaldinho; coincidentally, both made 59 goal contributions after 88 matches for Atlético. Hulk made his 100th appearance for Atlético in the round of 16 of the Copa do Brasil against Flamengo at the Maracanã on 14 July, which ended in elimination. On 3 August, Hulk scored against Palmeiras in the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores to become the club's top scorer in the competition with 12 goals, surpassing the previous record set by
Jô. In March and April 2023, the 36-year-old Hulk played a crucial role in the Atlético Mineiro team that won the
2023 Campeonato Mineiro, scoring his side's only goal in the semifinal tie against
Athletic, and then scored in both legs of the final against
América, including a last-minute winner in the first leg and a brace in the second, finishing the tournament as its top scorer with 11 goals. On 6 August, the 37-year-old Hulk scored a long-range free kick in a 2–0 league win over São Paulo, which ended a 10-match winless streak. On 12 November, Hulk scored his 400th career goal in official matches in a Série A match against Goiás, doing so in 766 matches.
2024: Copa Libertadores runner-up On 9 March, Hulk scored his 100th goal for Atlético Mineiro in a 2–0 win over América in the semifinals of the
2024 Campeonato Mineiro. He then scored in both legs of the final against Cruzeiro, finishing the tournament as its top scorer (7 goals) for the fourth time in a row, an unprecedented feat, overtaking the three-peats of
Ninão (1928–30) and
Tostão (1966–68). This meant that he had now played 10 matches over the course of six finals for Atlético Mineiro, scoring ten goals to help his side to six victories and four draws. In November, however, Atlético lost both legs in the final of the
2024 Copa do Brasil to Flamengo and then lost the
2024 Copa Libertadores final to Botafogo 1–3, despite assising his side's only goal in that match. After the match, Hulk was in tears as he apologized to the fans for the loss. With 19 goals scored in the 2024 season, Hulk reached the mark of 114 goals for Atlético, thus surpassing
Diego Tardelli to become the club's top scorer in the 21st century.
2026: Farewell On May 2, 2026, Hulk mutually terminated his contract with Atlético Mineiro, ending his five year stay with the club. His final match for Atlético ended up being a
Copa do Brasil fifth round first leg match against
Ceará on April 23, in which he came off the bench in the 61st minute for
Mateo Cassierra.
Fluminense On 5 May 2026, Hulk joined
Fluminense on a free transfer and a contract running until December 2027. ==International career==