Leonardo Nascimento Lopes de Souza (born 28 May 1997), known as Leonardo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port.
Career Leonardo grew in the Santos youth ranks and then he was loaned to the B-team, where he scored three goals in 16 games. Gainare Tottori wanted to scout him, so GM Masayuki Okano and returning Fernandinho went to Brazil to see with their own eyes the striker and another player, Vitor Gabriel. In January 2018, the Tottori-based club signed both class '97 for their incoming 2018 season.
After a top-scorer season with Albirex Niigata, scoring 28 goals in the 2019 J2 League, the Brazilian striker signed for Urawa Red Diamonds in the J1 League.
Urawa Red Diamonds Leonardo made his debut for Urawa in the club's match against Vegalta Sendai in the 2020 J.League Cup group stage on 16 February 2020. He scored twice in the first-half as Urawa won 5–2. He made his league debut five days later and scored the club's second goal of a 3–2 away victory at Shonan Bellmare.
Shandong Taishan On 22 February 2021, Leonardo joined Chinese Super League club Shandong Taishan.
On 30 July 2021, Leonardo joined fellow Chinese Super League club Hebei F.C. on loan.
On 24 February 2022, Leonardo joined K League 1 club Ulsan Hyundai on loan.
Loan to Changchun Yatai On 7 April 2023, Leonardo joined fellow Chinese Super League club Changchun Yatai on loan. On 30 April 2023, Leonardo scored his first goal for Yatai in a 1–1 home draw against Tianjin Jinmen Tiger. On 19 May 2023, Leonardo scored a hat trick in a 4–2 away win against Cangzhou Mighty Lions. On 30 June 2023, Yatai announced that his loan was terminated prematurely. He scored 10 goals from 12 league appearances for the club, making him top goalscorer of the 2023 Chinese Super League at the time of his departure.
Loans to Zhejiang FC On 1 July 2023, Leonardo joined fellow Chinese Super League club Zhejiang FC on loan. On 12 July 2023, Leonardo scored his first 2 goals for Zhejiang in a 2–2 away draw at his former club Changchun Yatai.
On 7 February 2024, he was re-loaned to Zhejiang until the end of the 2024 season.
Shanghai Port On 27 January 2025, Leonardo joined fellow Chinese Super League club Shanghai Port.
Career statistics Nippon Sports Kikaku Publishing inc./日本スポーツ企画出版社, "J1&J2&J3選手名鑑ハンディ版 2018 (NSK MOOK)", 7 February 2018, Japan, (p. 273 out of 289)
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueState leagueNational cupLeague cupContinentalOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsItuano2015Paulista—00———61612016Série D0000————00Total0000———6161Santos2017Série A00—00——142142Rio Verde (loan)2017Goiano—30————30Gainare Tottori2018J3 League3124—20———3324Albirex Niigata2019J2 League3828—00———3828Urawa Red Diamonds2020J1 League2811—0022——3013Shandong Taishan2021Chinese Super League81—00———81Hebei FC (loan)2021Chinese Super League121—00———121Ulsan Hyundai (loan)2022K League 13411—20—73—4314Changchun Yatai (loan)2023Chinese Super League1210—11———1311Zhejiang FC (loan)2023Chinese Super League169—11—64—23142024Chinese Super League2921—21———3122Total4530—32—64—5436Shanghai Port2025Chinese Super League3021—10—511037222026Chinese Super League115—00—0010125Total4126—10—51204927Career total249143309322188223303158
Honours Ulsan Hyundai K League 1: 2022
Shanghai Port Chinese Super League: 2025
Individual J2 League top scorer: 2019 (28 goals) J3 League top scorer: 2018 (24 goals)
References
External links
Leonardo at data.j-league.or.jp Leonardo at www.jleague.jp (archived) Leonardo at Gainare Tottori