Wellington Paulista

A professional football player from Brazil, Wellington Pereira do Nascimento, also known as Wellington Paulista, plays as a striker. In 2000, Paulista began his playing career with Clube Atletico Juventus, in the youth level, and took two years to make his mark and gain entry into the first team. However, Paulista’s first team experience didn’t begin with the Juventus line-up, it began with Mirassol Futebol Clube, on a loan spell. Throughout 2003, despite the loan move and the return to Juventus later in the year, Paulista didn’t get to play at all and, in 2004, moved to Parana Clube on loan.

Finally, getting an opportunity to show what he was capable of, Paulista played 22 times for the team, mostly as a substitute coming on later in the game. He adapted his playing style to that of the second striker, with very little playing time giving him few opportunities to put his name on the score sheet.

After spending all of 2004-05 on loan, Paulista returned to Juventus in 2006 but was immediately sent out on loan to Santos. Getting his first goal at the highest level of the game, Paulista scored 9 from the 30-times he turned out onto the pitch. In 2006-07, he moved to Spain and signed with Deportivo Alaves in the Segunda Division in Spain. His Spanish adventure saw him play 19 games and score 2 goals before returning to Brazil and signing up with Botafogo in 2007.

Still struggling to make his mark with the team, Paulista only managed to score 7 goals in his 28 games for the club, before moving to Cruzeiro in 2009. Since his move to Cruzeiro, Paulista’s career took off and even though the start was slow and he spent a loan spell out to Palmeiras in 2011, he scored 29 goals in his 54 appearances for Cruzeiro, even winning the Minas Gerais State League title, to add to his Rio Cup title win with Botafogo.