Elkeson

Elkeson de Oliveira Cardoso (born 13 July 1989), known as Elkeson or Ai Kesen (Chinese: 艾克森; pinyin: Ai Kesen), is a Brazillian-born Chinese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a forward for Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande and the China national team.

Born in Brazil, Elkeson obtained Chinese citizenship in 2019 through naturalization and represents China internationally. Starting out at Vitoria, he played mostly as an attacking midfielder and as a winger, but since his final days at Botafogo, he was moved to attack and has played as a striker.

Club Career

Brazil

Elkeson first played for Vitoria's youth academy before signing with the first team in 2009. During the 2010 season, Elkeson proved himself a breakout success and soon earned himself a move to Botafogo in May 2011.

After two years of being one of Botafogo's star players in the Brasileirao, Guangzhou Evergrande of the Chinese Super League secured his services at the end of the 2012 season.

Guangzhou Evergrande

On 24 December 2012, Guangzhou Evergrande officially announced that they had signed Elkeson on a four-year deal for a fee of €5.7 million. He was not initially included in Guangzhou's 30-player squad for the 2013 AFC Champions League due to the limit on foreign players. On 3 March 2013, he made his debut for Guangzhou in the 2013 Chinese FA Super Cup which Guangzhou Evergrande lost to Jiangsu Sainty 2–1. On 8 March 2013, Elkeson scored his first two goals in China in the opening match of 2013 Chinese Super League against Shanghai Shenxin, which ensured Guangzhou Evergrande's 5–1 victory. He scored thirteen goals in his first seven matches in the league. In July 2013, Elkeson was named in the squad which was submitted for the next stage of the AFC Champions League, replacing Lucas Barrios who had decided to return to Europe.

He scored twenty-four goals in twenty-eight appearances in the Super League which made him th

This page also has a version in other languages :  Элкесон (russian)