Maicosuel was born in
Cosmópolis,
São Paulo. After very good performances playing for
Paraná Clube, he was acquired by
Cruzeiro in 2007. Despite great expectations, he never secured a position in the squad and was mostly used as a back-up until June 2008, when he was bought by
Traffic Sports, an investor group, and left Cruzeiro to join
Palmeiras. After an unsuccessful spell at
Palmeiras Maicosuel joined
Botafogo in 2009. At
Botafogo Maicosuel played at top level and with only five months at Botafogo he was elected the best player of the
Rio de Janeiro State League. On 21 May 2009,
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim signed "Mago" (Portuguese for 'Magician') from Botafogo for €4.5 million on a five-year contract. In the summer of 2010 he returned to Botafogo. On 13 July 2012, Maicosuel signed a five-year deal with Italian club
Udinese. He had a promising start as he scored on his
Serie A debut against
ACF Fiorentina, but soon afterwards his error from the penalty spot against
Sporting Braga was decisive as Udinese lost the penalty shootout which would have granted the Italian team access to the group phase of the
2012–13 UEFA Champions League. Maicosuel was the only player to miss his penalty, attempting a
Panenka chip that goalkeeper
Beto easily caught. Braga would go on to win the shootout 5–4. On 26 May 2014 Maicosuel returned to Brazil, joining
Atlético Mineiro on a five-year deal for a fee of €3.3 million. The player had some good appearances in the second half of 2014, scoring in the
Recopa Sudamericana against
Lanús and in the
Copa do Brasil semifinals against
Flamengo, both competitions the club went on to win, but failed to secure a regular place in the team's starting eleven. In 2015, despite some good performances such as a brace against
Internacional in early July, Maicosuel still could not make it as a first squad regular. He was eventually loaned to Emirati club
Al Sharjah SCC in late July, on a year-long deal worth €1.8 million. On 29 January 2018, after playing for
São Paulo for only seven months, Maicosuel was excluded from the club's plans. Twelve days earlier, he had played his last match for
Tricolor. In that match, the team lost 2–0 to
São Bento, in the opening round of the 2018
2018 São Paulo State League. ==Career stats==