Our First Brazilian – Discovering Tetê
Following the arrival of Leicester City’s latest signing, from Shakhtar Donetsk, we take a dive into the life and career of the winger, who has travelled across Europe from his homeland to play in Ukraine, France – and now England.
Growing up within Rio Grande do Sul, a state encapsuled inside the southern region of the South American nation, it is bordered by Porto Alegre, the state’s capital where Ronaldinho was born and grew up.
Like Ronaldinho, Tetê’s formative years were spent at Grêmio, one of Brazil’s most famous and successful clubs, which is based within Porto Alegre and boasts the likes of Luis Suárez in their current squad.
Joining their youth academy at the age of eight, he stayed for over a decade, moving up the ranks, while also rising through Brazil’s youth teams, from Under-15s in 2015 to Under-23s by 2020 – selected to represent the Under-20s at the 2019 South American U20 Championship.
The 22-year-old’s club career, meanwhile, took him to the Ukrainian Premier League in February 2019, signing for Shakhtar. Making his full debut two months later, in a league match against Zorya Luhansk, Tete provided an assist during a 3-0 victory.
Registering another assist and two goals in a further seven league games between then and the end of the campaign, the winger, who can play off the left, right or as a central attacking midfielder, helped Shakhtar to lift the title at the end of 2018/19.
His crowning moment came in the Ukrainian Cup Final, however, with two goals and one assist part of a 4-0 triumph over Ingulets on 15, May 2019, to secure a league-cup double in his first season.
The following campaign, meanwhile, included his maiden appearances in the UEFA Champions League, scoring on his competition debut, against Dinamo Zagreb, before his first start, in a draw with Manchester City.
Shakhtar moved into the Europa League, with Tetê able to make another four appearances as Hirnyky reached the semi-finals. As for the league, Shakhtar were crowned champions once again in 2019/20, with the Brazilian making a telling contribution to the success, including eight goals.
It was a similar story during his third season at the club, highlighting a growing contribution to the team. A goal in a famous 3-2 victory over Real Madrid at Santiago Bernabéu kicked off the Champions League campaign. Tetê would start five of the six group games, including when defeating Madrid in the home fixture, too.
Another goal would follow in the subsequent Europa League campaign, though it ended at the last-16 stage. Also involved in 24 of the 26 league matches, as Shakhtar finished runners-up, it proved to be his final full season in Ukraine.
In total, the attacker played over a century of games for the 13-time champions, 108 to be precise, scoring 31 times and adding 15 assists to enhance his growing reputation within the continent.
The 2021/22 season began with qualification for the Champions League group stage once more, with an extra nine league goals – and the addition of the Ukrainian Super Cup to his growing medal collection, before a loan move to Olympique Lyonnais was confirmed on 31 March, 2022.
Scoring on his Ligue 1 debut, a 3-2 win over Angers, Tetê ended the campaign with a goal and four assists in the final four games of last term, as Lyon finished eighth.
Extending his stay in France, the opening four matches of 2022/23 brought four goals and two assists, leaving L'OL with 30 appearances to his name.
Tetê signed off with two assists in the Coupe de France win over Chambéry SF on 21 January, ahead of arriving in Leicestershire.
He will wear no.37 for the Foxes, with free shirt printing on all 2022/23 adidas replica shirts available until the end of January.