Palmeiras Vágner Love started his career with
Palmeiras. In the 2003 season, he helped them to return to the
Série A, the nation's top-flight division, by scoring 19 goals and finishing as Serie B's top scorer.
CSKA Moscow In August 2004, Vágner Love was bought by
Russian Premier League club
CSKA Moscow, where he joined fellow Brazilian creative midfielder
Daniel Carvalho, who had transferred before start of the season. Upon his arrival, Vagner Love had an immediate impact; in his debut on 4 August 2004 against
Neftchi, he came on as a sub and scored a goal. In the last qualifying round against Scottish club Rangers, Vagner Love scored goals in both legs as CSKA won 3-2 on aggregate and qualified to the
Champions League group stage. He also scored 9 goals in the remaining 12 league games, including braces against
Rotor Volgograd (3-0),
Alania Vladikavkaz (1-4) and
FC Moscow (1-4) as the team finished second in a close title race against cross-city rivals
Lokomotiv, losing by just one point. He also played in every Champions League group stage game and scored one goal against
PSG. In December 2004, CSKA finished third in the group and was relegated to the
UEFA Cup knockout stage, where he scored three goals. At the end of the football season in Russia, Vagner Love was linked with a move to
Corinthians due to
homesickness and having trouble adjusting to life in Moscow. However, CSKA refused to sell or loan him. On 18 May 2005, at the age of , Vágner Love scored the final goal in CSKA's 3–1 victory over
Sporting CP in the
2005 UEFA Cup Final at the
Estádio José Alvalade in
Lisbon, making him the youngest player to score in a UEFA Cup final. He won his second trophy with the Russian club later that month, as CSKA won the
2004–05 Russian Cup. Later that year, the Brazilian striker scored seven times to help his club win the
2005 Russian Premier League title. On 24 November, he scored twice in a 2-1 victory against
Levski Sofia, but CSKA were later eliminated from the
UEFA Cup group stages. On 11 March 2006, Vagner participated in the match as CSKA beat crosstown rival
Spartak to win the
2006 Russian Super Cup. CSKA's second trophy of 2006 was the Russian Cup, with Vagner scoring in the 3-0 victory against Spartak. CSKA won back-to-back league titles with their
2006 league title, with Vagner scoring nine goals, including a hattrick on 18 November 2006 against
Luch-Energia. Despite winning three trophies, Vagner did not score in the
Champions League group stage, as CSKA finished third and dropped to the UEFA Cup. He finished the 2006 season with 15 goals in 38 appearances, improving on his previous season total while playing less matches. Vagner scored and won back-to-back
Russian Super Cup titles as CSKA beat Spartak 4-2 to start the
2007 season. Vagner was the club's top scorer in the league, scoring 13 goals as CSKA finished third in the
2007 league season. Despite Vagner's good performances, CSKA had a poor season, being knocked out from the Russian Cup in the sixth round and from the UEFA Cup in the round of 32, also finishing last in their Champions League group, with Vagner scoring three goals in the group stage. He won his third
Russian Cup at the beginning of 2008, scoring during the match and also in the penalty shootout in the final against
Amkar Perm. He was the top scorer in the
2008 season (the first top scorer from outside the former Soviet Union), scoring 20 goals, including hat tricks against Spartak (5-1) and
Rubin Kazan (4-0), as well as four goals against FC Moscow (4-1). He was also the top scorer of the
2008–09 UEFA Cup, with 11 goals in 8 games, including a hat-trick in a 4-3 away victory against
AS Nancy, despite CSKA's elimination from the competition at the round of 16 stage, losing 2-1 on aggregate at the hands of eventual champion
Shakhtar Donetsk. On 31 May 2009, he won his fourth Russian Cup with the club. In the semi-finals, he scored an important goal and then his penalty in the shootout against Dynamo Moscow to help CSKA progress to the finals. He played in the final against Rubin Kazan as his club won 1-0 with a last minute goal from
Evgeni Aldonin.
Return to Palmeiras on loan On 28 August 2009, Vágner Love was signed by his former club Palmeiras on a one-year loan deal until 31 July 2010. CSKA press spokesman Sergei Aksenov claimed that Vágner Love left Russia due to "urgent family problems demand(ing) his presence at home in Brazil". Vágner Love had a respectable return of 5 goals in 12 games for Palmeiras, but his loan spell was ended prematurely after suffering an attack by Palmeiras fans outside a bank in São Paulo on 1 December 2009, just days after scoring in the 37th round of the Brazilian championship, a 3-1 victory against Atletico-MG. This incident, combined with his desire to play for his childhood team
Flamengo, led to his spell at the club being ended early on 14 January 2010, with the player stating the primary reason for the move being that he felt unsafe in São Paulo. and Vágner Love
Flamengo On 15 January 2010, the day after his loan was terminated with Palmeiras, Vágner Love officially signed a short-loan deal with reigning Brazilian champions
Flamengo until July 2010. He made his Flamengo debut against
Bangu in the
Campeonato Carioca on 23 January 2010, scoring two goals. Vágner Love performed very well playing for Flamengo, scoring 23 goals in 26 matches. His successful strike partnership with
Adriano was dubbed by fans as "Império do Amor", or "The Love Empire", in reference to Adriano's nickname "The Emperor" and Vágner Love's artistic surname. The presence of midfielder
Dejan Petković in Flamengo's squad made supporters start the year with high expectations—it was widely believed that the Serbian's passing and free-kick abilities, coupled with Adriano's and Vagner's prolific scoring, would produce a top team. However, the team failed to advance past the quarter-finals in the
2010 Copa Libertadores, and finished in the bottom half of the table in the
Série A. Shortly after, Adriano revealed he wanted to try playing in Italy again, and Flamengo could not convince CSKA to extend Vágner Love's loan, thus dismantling the once-promising "Love Empire". In July 2010, Vagner returned to CSKA. He scored two goals in the Europa League group stages, but was unable to make an impact in the later rounds, playing both legs as CSKA lost to
FC Porto 3-1 on aggregate. On 11 May 2011, in the Russian Cup semi-finals, Vagner Love scored a goal to tie the match at 3-3 against rivals Spartak, and then scored in the penalty shootout to help his club qualify for the final. In the final less than two weeks later, he won his fifth Russian Cup with the club, playing in the 2-1 victory over
Alania Vladikavkaz. On 25 January 2012, he officially signed with Flamengo. He scored 13 goals in 36 appearances in the
2012 Brazilian Championship, and two goals in the
2012 Copa Libertadores, one of them being a game winner in a home victory over
Emelec.
Return to CSKA After a change of presidency, on 12 January 2013, Flamengo did not pay his pendencies of rights with CSKA, and Vágner Love had to leave the club, returning to Russia after a one-year absence. On 16 January, he was "re-presented" in Moscow and signed a three-year contract extension. He continued his goal scoring record with CSKA on his return to the club, and propelled the club to the Premier League title in
2013 after a goalless draw with
Kuban Krasnodar on 18 May, the club's first league title since 2006.
Shandong Luneng On 24 July 2013, Vágner Love transferred to
Chinese Super League side
Shandong Luneng in a reported €12 million transfer.
Corinthians On 8 February 2015, Vágner Love rescinded his contract with Shandong Luneng and signed with
Corinthians in Brazil. He went on to become the top scorer of the club during the national championship as Corinthians went on to win the
Série A that year.
Monaco On 13 January 2016,
Ligue 1 club
Monaco announced the signing of Vágner Love on an 18-month deal for a €1 million transfer fee. On 20 March, he opened the scoring in an eventual 2–0 win against
Paris Saint-Germain, the Parisian club's first home defeat since May 2014.
Alanyaspor On 30 August 2016, Turkish
Süper Lig club
Alanyaspor reached an agreement with
Monaco for the transfer of Love. On 31 August 2016, he was officially presented after passed the medical. Having failed to score in his first seven appearances for the club, Love scored 23 goals in 20 matches that followed to earn the
Golden Boot award.
Beşiktaş On 26 January 2018, Turkish
Süper Lig club
Beşiktaş reached an agreement with
Alanyaspor for the transfer of Love.
Return to Corinthians On 25 January 2019, Love returned to Corinthians on a deal until the end of 2020 after rescinding his contract with Beşiktaş. He rescinded his contract in June 2020.
Kairat On 8 July 2020,
Kazakhstan Premier League club
FC Kairat announced the signing of Vágner Love on a six-month contract, with the option to extend it. On 3 November 2020, Love scored Kairat's first goal, in a 3–1 win over
Ordabasy, to clinch their first
Kazakhstan Premier League title since
2004. On 5 November 2020, Kairat extended their contract with Vágner Love until the end of the 2021 season.
Midtjylland On 20 January 2022, Love signed an agreement to join
Midtjylland on a free transfer, with a contract lasting until the end of the 2021/22 season. On 22 May 2022 Midtjylland confirmed, that Love was one out of seven players, whose contracts had come to an end, and therefore would leave the club.
Sport Recife On 26 July 2022, Love returned to Brazil after two years, joining
Série A side
Sport Recife until the end of the year. On 6 January 2023, the forward renewed his contract with the club for another season.
Atlético Goianiense On 5 January 2024, Love signed a one-year contract with
recently-promoted Série A club
Atlético Goianiense.
Retirement On 28 March 2026, Vágner Love officially announced his retirement from professional football in a match between
Retrô and
Ceará for the
Copa do Nordeste. ==International career==