Juninho started his career with Bahia, before joining Vila Nova, União São João and Palmeiras. On 5 December 2003, after previously spending the loan on loan with Kawasaki Frontale, Juninho joined the club on a permanent transfer. He scored 37 goals in 39 games as Kawasaki Frontale were promoted to the J1 League, as he won the top scorer award. During the 2007 season, he was the top scorer, with 22 goals in 31 league appearances. This led to him being named in the 2007 J.League Team of the Year. In 2008, he said his intention was to stay in Japan for the rest of his life and become a naturalized Japanese citizen. However, he gave up on obtaining Japanese nationality due to concerns with him playing 4 international matches for Brazil U20's team, alongside a lack of documents from Brazil and Juninho not having proficiency in Japanese. On 25 November 2011, the club announced they would not be renewing his contract for the 2012 season. On 27 December 2011, Juninho was announced at
Kashima Antlers on a permanent transfer. He scored 6 goals in 57 league appearances during his time at the club before leaving at the end of the 2013 season. ==Club statistics==