 Willian José withReal Sociedad in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Willian José da Silva[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-11-23)23 November 1991 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Porto Calvo, Brazil | ||
| Height | 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Bahia | ||
| Number | 12 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2008 | CRB | ||
| 2008–2009 | Grêmio Barueri | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2009–2010 | Grêmio Barueri | 29 | (7) |
| 2011–2016 | Deportivo Maldonado | 0 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | →São Paulo (loan) | 52 | (14) |
| 2013 | →Grêmio (loan) | 6 | (3) |
| 2013 | →Santos (loan) | 23 | (5) |
| 2014 | →Real Madrid B (loan) | 16 | (4) |
| 2014 | →Real Madrid (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2014–2015 | →Zaragoza (loan) | 33 | (7) |
| 2015–2016 | →Las Palmas (loan) | 30 | (9) |
| 2016–2022 | Real Sociedad | 143 | (52) |
| 2021 | →Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 17 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | →Betis (loan) | 32 | (8) |
| 2022–2024 | Betis | 61 | (12) |
| 2024–2025 | Spartak Moscow | 7 | (0) |
| 2025– | Bahia | 28 | (7) |
| International career | |||
| 2011 | Brazil U20 | 15 | (11) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 6 October 2025 | |||
Willian José da Silva (born 23 November 1991), known asWillian José, is a Brazilian professionalfootballer who plays as astriker forCampeonato Brasileiro Série A clubBahia.
He began his career with 77 games and 12 goals in theCampeonato Brasileiro Série A forGrêmio Barueri,São Paulo andSantos, as well as representingGrêmio FBPA on loan in 2013.
Willian José spent most of his career in Spain, making 267La Liga appearances and scoring 82 goals, mainly forReal Sociedad andReal Betis, winning aCopa del Rey with each in2020 and2022. He also representedReal Madrid andLas Palmas on loan in the division, and had a loan toWolverhampton Wanderers of thePremier League in 2021.
Born inPorto Calvo,Alagoas, Willian José started his career at localCRB's youth setup, before joiningGrêmio Barueri in 2008, aged 17. On 1 August 2009 he made his first team – andSérie A – debut, coming on as a latesubstitute in a 2–1 loss atBotafogo.[3]
Willian José scored his first goal as a professional on 17 January of the following year, netting his side's only in a 1–1 draw atSertãozinho for theCampeonato Paulista championship.[4] He scored six further times duringthe campaign, which ended in relegation.
From 2011 to 2016, Willian José's contract was the property ofDeportivo Maldonado of Uruguay,[5] a team known for buying players to loan out.[6] On 13 January 2011, Willian José joinedSão Paulo.[7] He was mostly used as a backup toLuís Fabiano andDagoberto inhis first year, and despite the latter leaving forInternacional in 2012, he was still third-choice behind new signingOsvaldo.
On 13 December 2012, Willian José moved toGrêmio,[8] but after appearing rarely he signed withSantos FC in May of the following year.[9] He appeared in 28 matches duringhis only season atPeixe, scoring five goals.
On 8 January 2014 Willian José moved abroad, signing a six-month deal withReal Madrid, being assigned tothe reserves inSegunda División.[10] After scoring ahat-trick in a 3–2 win atRecreativo de Huelva,[11] he was called up for the main squad and was on the bench for the matches againstReal Sociedad andUD Almería. He made hisLa Liga debut on 11 May, replacing compatriotCasemiro in a 2–0 loss atCelta de Vigo.[12]
Willian José signed a one-year deal withReal Zaragoza in the second level on 29 August 2014.[13] He made his debut for the club on 7 September, replacingDavid Muñoz in a 4–1 loss atFC Barcelona B.
Willian José scored his first goal for the club on 12 October 2014, in a 3–3 away draw againstCD Lugo. He also scored braces againstUD Las Palmas (3–5 away defeat) andGirona FC (4–1 away win), finishingthe campaign with ten goals as his side missed out promotion inthe play-offs.
On 30 July 2015, Willian José signed a one-year contract withLas Palmas,newly promoted to the top tier.[14] His first goal in the category occurred on 12 December, the game's only in a home success againstReal Betis.
On 25 January 2016, Willian José scored a brace in a 3–2 loss atLevante UD. On 20 February, he scored a first-half equalizer against league leadersFC Barcelona, but the hosts would eventually lose by 2–1. He also scored the equalizer against former club Real Madrid on 13 March, but the hosts again lost by 2–1.
On 31 July 2016, Willian José signed a five-year deal with fellow league teamReal Sociedad.[15] He made his debut on 21 August as the season began with a 3–0 home loss to Real Madrid, replacingDavid Concha after 55 minutes after starting on the bench due to fitness.[16] In his next game on 9 September, he equalised in a 1–1 draw onEspanyol's visit to theAnoeta Stadium, and 12 days later he netted twice in a 4–1 win over former club Las Palmas.[17] adding a further brace on 10 December in the first 25 minutes of a 3–2 win overValencia.[18]
Willian José scored four goals on 19 October 2017 in a 6–0 win away toFK Vardar of Macedonia in the Europa League group stage, though his team did not advance.[19] The following 1 October, he extended his contract to 2024, with arelease clause increased from €60 million to €70 million and Maldonado keeping 30% of his economic rights.[20]
On 23 January 2021, Willian José joined Premier League clubWolverhampton Wanderers for the remainder of the2020–21 season, with the option to make the deal permanent at its conclusion.[21] He made his first appearance for Wolves as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 draw withChelsea atStamford Bridge on 27 January, making a vital headed clearance of a goal-bound shot fromKai Havertz in the last minute of added time.[22][23] He made his first start in the next game away toCrystal Palace three days later,[24] and on 17 April he scored his only Wolves goal in a 1–0 home league win overSheffield United, sealing the Blades' relegation to theEFL Championship.[25]
On 26 August 2021, Willian José joined fellow La Liga clubReal Betis on a season-long loan deal. The deal included the option to make the move permanent until 2025 for a fee of €8.5 million.[26] He made his debut on 13 September in a 2–1 win at fellow AndalusiansGranada, as a half-time substitute forBorja Iglesias;[27][28] six days later he started and scored in the first five minutes of a 2–2 home draw withEspanyol.[29] He followed this with a late goal from the bench in a 3–1 win atOsasuna,[30] and both goals in a victory againstGetafe at theEstadio Benito Villamarín.[31] Over the season, he competed with Iglesias for the position of managerManuel Pellegrini's starting centre-forward.[32] In the team's victorious Copa del Rey campaign, he scored a penalty in a 4–0 win on his return to Real Sociedad in the quarter-final,[33] and was an extra-time substitute in thefinal win overValencia, scoring the first attempt in the penalty shootout.[34]
In2022–23, Willian José struggled for game time behindSergio Canales and Iglesias.[35] He returned to prominence in the following season, coming on as a half-time substitute for Iglesias in the opening game away toVillarreal and scoring the winning goal of a 2–1 victory in the last minute.[36] On 8 October, away toAlavés, he came off the bench late in the 1–1 draw and was sent off in added time for kicking out atAleksandar Sedlar as he got up from the floor.[37] He scored four goals on 1 November in a 12–1 win at sixth-tierHernán Cortés in the first round of the Copa del Rey; the result was the joint-second biggest win in the competition's history, behindGetafe's 12–0 win againstTardienta on the same day.[38] In the2023–24 season, he became the top scorer for his club in La Liga by scoring 10 goals.[39]
On 1 July 2024, Willian José signed a two-year contract withRussian Premier League clubSpartak Moscow.[40] On 14 January 2025, he left Spartak by mutual consent.[41]
On 14 January 2025, Willian José joinedBahia on a two-year deal.[42]
In 2011, Willian José was a member of both theFIFA U-20 World Cup andSouth American Youth Championship winning squads withBrazil, scoring twice in the former and thrice in the latter.
On 12 March 2018, he received his first call-up for thesenior team for two friendly matches againstRussia andGermany, but he didn't play either one.[43]
| Club | Season | League | State league[a] | National cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Grêmio Barueri | 2009 | Série A | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2010 | Série A | 19 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | — | 24 | 7 | ||
| Subtotal | 26 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 31 | 7 | |||
| São Paulo (loan) | 2011 | Série A | 9 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 22 | 1 | |
| 2012 | Série A | 19 | 1 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 7[c] | 3 | — | 44 | 15 | ||
| Total | 28 | 1 | 24 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | — | 66 | 16 | |||
| Grêmio (loan) | 2013 | Série A | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3[d] | 0 | — | 9 | 3 | |
| Santos (loan) | 2013 | Série A | 23 | 5 | — | 2 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 5 | |||
| Real Madrid B (loan) | 2013–14 | Segunda División | 16 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 4 | ||||
| Real Madrid (loan) | 2013–14 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Zaragoza (loan) | 2014–15 | Segunda División | 33 | 7 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 4[e] | 3 | 38 | 10 | ||
| Las Palmas (loan) | 2015–16 | La Liga | 30 | 9 | — | 4 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 10 | |||
| Real Sociedad | 2016–17 | La Liga | 28 | 12 | — | 6 | 2 | — | — | 34 | 14 | |||
| 2017–18 | La Liga | 34 | 15 | — | 0 | 0 | 6[f] | 5 | — | 40 | 20 | |||
| 2018–19 | La Liga | 31 | 11 | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 11 | ||||
| 2019–20 | La Liga | 37 | 11 | — | 4 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 11 | ||||
| 2020–21 | La Liga | 14 | 3 | — | 1 | 2 | 6[f] | 1 | 1[g] | 0 | 22 | 6 | ||
| Total | 144 | 52 | — | 14 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 171 | 62 | |||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 2020–21 | Premier League | 17 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 1 | |||
| Real Betis (loan) | 2021–22 | La Liga | 32 | 8[h] | — | 4 | 1 | 8[f] | 1 | — | 44 | 10 | ||
| Real Betis | 2022–23 | La Liga | 28 | 2 | — | 2 | 1 | 8[f] | 2 | 1[g] | 0 | 39 | 5 | |
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 33 | 10 | — | 3 | 4 | 7[i] | 0 | — | 43 | 14 | |||
| Total | 93 | 20 | — | 9 | 6 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 126 | 29 | |||
| Spartak Moscow | 2024–25 | Russian Premier League | 7 | 0 | — | 6 | 1 | — | — | 13 | 1 | |||
| Bahia | 2025 | Série A | 14 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11[j] | 2 | 5[k] | 1 | 38 | 10 |
| Career total | 432 | 107 | 38 | 18 | 47 | 15 | 58 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 586 | 158 | ||
São Paulo
Real Madrid
Real Sociedad
Real Betis
Bahia
Brazil U20
