Paulo Ricardo (footballer, born 1994)

Paulo Ricardo

Personal information
Full name	Paulo Ricardo Ferreira
Date of birth	(1994-06-13) 13 June 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Laguna, Brazil
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Al-Urooba
Number	2
Youth career
2008–2009	Atlético Catarinense
2009	Brusque
2009–2012	Figueirense
2012–2014	Santos
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2017	Santos	13	(0)
2016–2017	→ Sion (loan)	15	(2)
2016–2017	→ Sion II (loan)	4	(0)
2017–2019	Sion	17	(0)
2018–2019	→ Fluminense (loan)	9	(0)
2019	→ Goiás (loan)	1	(0)
2020–2021	Figueirense	30	(1)
2021–2023	KuPS	37	(2)
2023–2024	Al-Hazem	44	(3)
2024–	Al-Urooba	3	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 November 2024

Paulo Ricardo Ferreira (born 13 June 1994), known as Paulo Ricardo, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for UAE Pro League club Al-Urooba. Mainly a central defender, he can also play as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Born in Laguna, Santa Catarina, Paulo Ricardo joined Santos' youth system in 2012, aged 18, after stints with Atlético Catarinense, Brusque and Figueirense. At the latter he also suffered with recurrent back injuries which included a vertebral fracture. ^[1]

On 21 March 2014 Paulo Ricardo signed a new deal with Peixe, running until 2017. ^[2] He made his first team debut on 18 July, coming on as a late substitute in a 2–0 home success against Palmeiras for the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A championship. ^[3]

On 26 April 2015, after Werley's illness and Gustavo Henrique's injury, Paulo Ricardo was made a starter in 2015 Campeonato Paulista final against Palmeiras, but was sent off after committing a penalty in a 1–0 away loss. ^[4] He appeared more regularly with the club during the campaign, being sometimes utilized as a defensive midfielder by manager Dorival Júnior. ^[5]

On 7 July 2016, Paulo Ricardo was loaned to FC Sion for one year. ^[6] He made his debut for the club on 10 August, starting in a 3–1 away loss against FC Lugano.

On 24 July 2017, Paulo Ricardo joined Sion permanently, with Santos receiving a compensation fee. ^[7] On 8 August of the following year, he returned to his homeland after agreeing to a one-year loan deal with Fluminense. ^[8]

In the summer of 2021, he moved to the Finnish club Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS) in the country's top-tier Veikkausliiga. ^[9] During his time with KuPS, the club won two Finnish Cup titles, and finished twice as the Veikkausliiga runner-up, losing the title to HJK Helsinki with one point difference on both occasions. ^[10]

On 22 January 2023, Ricardo joined Saudi club Al-Hazem for an undisclosed fee. ^[11]

On 4 July 2024, Ricardo joined Al-Urooba. ^[12]

Career statistics

As of 11 November 2024 ^[13]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			State League		Cup [a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Santos	2014	Série A	1	0	—		1	0	—		—		2	0
	2015	Série A	11	0	1 [b]	0	6	0	—		—		18	0
	2016	Série A	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		12	0	1	0	7	0	—		—		20	0
Sion II (loan)	2016–17	Swiss Promotion League	4	0	—		—		—		—		4	0
Sion	2016–17	Swiss Super League	15	2	—		3	0	—		—		18	2
	2017–18	Swiss Super League	17	0	—		3	0	2 [c]	0	—		22	0
	Total		32	2	—		5	0	2	0	—		39	2
Fluminense (loan)	2018	Série A	9	0	—		—		3 [d]	0	—		12	0
	2019	Série A	0	0	0	0	0	0	1 [d]	0	—		1	0
	Total		9	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	—		13	0
Goiás (loan)	2019	Série A	1	0	—		—		—		2 [e]	0	3	0
Figueirense	2020	Série B	12	1	7 [f]	0	4	0	—		—		23	1
	2021	Série C	0	0	11 [f]	0	1	0	—		—		12	0
	Total		12	1	18	0	5	0	—		—		35	1
KuPS	2021	Veikkausliiga	13	2	–		0	0	1 [g]	0	–		14	2
	2022	Veikkausliiga	24	0	–		5	0	4 [g]	0	4 [h]	0	37	0
	Total		37	2	–	–	5	0	5	0	4	0	51	2
Al-Hazem	2022–23	Saudi First Division	17	0	–		0	0	–		–		17	0
	2023–24	Saudi Pro League	27	3	–		2	0	–		–		29	3
	Total		44	3	–	–	2	0	–	–	–	–	46	3
Al-Urooba	2024–25	UAE Pro League	3	0	–		0	0	–		2 [i]	0	5	0
Career total			154	8	19	0	24	0	11	0	8	0	216	8

1. Includes Copa do Brasil, Swiss Cup, Suomen Cup and Saudi King's Cup
2. Includes Campeonato Paulista
3. Includes UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
5. Appearance(s) in Copa Verde
6. Includes Campeonato Catarinense
7. Includes UEFA Europa Conference League
8. Includes Finnish League Cup
9. Includes UAE League Cup

Honours

Santos

• Campeonato Paulista: 2015

KuPS

• Veikkausliiga runner-up: 2021, 2022
• Finnish Cup: 2021, 2022

Al-Hazem

• Saudi First Division League runner-up: 2022–23

Individual

• Veikkausliiga Defender of the Year: 2022 ^[14]
• Veikkausliiga Team of the Year: 2022 ^[15]

References

1. "Zagueiro supera grave lesão para ser titular do Santos na Copa São Paulo" [Stopper overcomes severe injury to become Santos' starter in Copa São Paulo] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
2. "Santos FC renova com zagueiro Paulo Ricardo até 2017" [Santos FC renews with stopper Paulo Ricardo until 2017] (in Portuguese). Santos' official profile. 21 March 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
3. "Santos bate inofensivo Palmeiras na estreia de Gareca e encosta no G-4" [Santos defeats inoffensive Palmeiras in Gareca's debut and gets near to G-4] (in Portuguese). UOL Esporte. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
4. "Com arbitragem polêmica, Palmeiras sai na frente do Santos na decisão" [With controversial refereeing, Palmeiras goes ahead of Santos in the final] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 26 April 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
5. "Polivalente e titular, Paulo Ricardo lidera evolução da defesa do Santos" [Versatile and starter, Paulo Ricardo leads Santos' defensive evolution] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
6. "Santos Libera Paulo Ricardo para empréstimo ao Sion, da Suíça" [Santos release Paulo Ricardo for a loan to Sion, from Switzerland] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
7. "Santos recebe compensação e vende Paulo Ricardo para clube da Suíça" [Santos receive compensation and sell Paulo Ricardo to Swiss club] (in Portuguese). ESPN Brasil. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
8. "Zagueiro Paulo Ricardo é apresentado no Fluminense" [Stopper Paulo Ricardo is presented at Fluminense] (in Portuguese). Fluminense FC. 8 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
9. "Após deixar o Figueirense, Paulo Ricardo acerta com clube da Finlândia". ge.
10. Paulo Ricardo
11. "رسميا | الحزم يعلن التعاقد مع أوباما ومدافع برازيلي".
12. "العروبة يتعاقد مع 3 أجانب".
13. Paulo Ricardo at Soccerway
14. Liimatta, Ville (1 December 2022). "Vuoden 2022 Captain's Ball: Kaikki voittajat ja palkitut kootusti". SuomiFutis (in Finnish). Retrieved 1 January 2023.
15. "Perinteinen Koplajoukkue nimetty - jalkapallotoimittajien valinnat kauden parhaiksi". www.veikkausliiga.com (in Finnish). 16 October 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2023.

External links

• Santos FC profile (in Portuguese)
• Paulo Ricardo at Soccerway