Santana Loureiro

Cleber Santana Loureiro is a central midfielder who plays professional football as a central midfielder. Beginning his youth career at Sport Clube do Recife, Santana moved into the professional leagues by signing up with their first team squad in 1999. He quickly became an inseparable part of the first team squad, and began playing games regularly after his second and third season at the team.

Eventually, his 4 years at Sport Clube do Recife saw him play almost 50 games with five goals to his name. Santana clearly had a lot of potential and when he joined Esporte Clube Vitoria in 2004, he just built on it. A regular starter for that team, Santana played every game to help the team win the 2004 Bahia State League title. This was his third piece of silverware, following the Nordeste Cup in 2000, as well as the Pernambuco State League title the same season, both with Sport Clube do Recife.

In 2005, he moved East, to Japan, signing up with J-League team, Kashiwa Reysol. Again, a regular part of the starting line-up, Santana scored 8 goals in almost 30 appearances for the Japanese team. However, his stint in Japan would come to an end and Santana was back in Brazil signing with Santos for the new season.

In 2006 and 2007 , Santana stayed with Santos and continued playing as a member of the starting eleven. Santana helped Santos win the State League title in both seasons, catching the eye of European giants Atletico Madrid in the process.

Santana was not a regular for the Spanish team, but did manage a number of appearances in his first season. As Maniche made his way to Internazionale Milan, space opened up and Santana got more playing time. He was a part of the team that won its place back in the UEFA Champions League, but was the target of a loan move in 2008.

Moving to RCD Mallorca on loan, Santana played 32 games for the team and scored five goals in the process. He returned to Atletico Madrid at the end of the season but failed to make a mark. He ended his Spanish journey, in 2010, with just over 65 games and 6 goals under his belt. He was also a part of the 2009-10 UEFA Europa League winning team at Atletico Madrid as well as the team that came second at the 2009-10 Spanish Cup.

Despite renewing his contract earlier that season, Santana decided to return to Sao Paulo in search of regular playing time. After 22 games with the first team, he was sent out to Atletico Paranaense, on loan, for the remainder of the 2011 season. Santana has already scored once in his ten outings for Atletico.