Santos was born in São Paulo and began his career at Brazilian side América Mineiro from Belo Horizonte in 2000.

He made an impact immediately upon his arrival – during his first month in Europe he was instrumental in Helsingborg's elimination of Inter Milan in the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League's third qualification round.

Three years later, his goal record in Sweden's top flight Allsvenskan drew the attention of regular Danish champions FC København.

Before his contract officially began, Santos displayed his impact by scoring in a friendly match against Greek side PAOK FC on 30 July.

[7] At the end of 2022, Helsingborg were relegated from the Allsvenskan and the new 2023 season started with three consecutive defeats, so the club decided to let Santos and the rest of the staff go on May 17, 2023.

[8] On 30 June 2023, Santos returned to Denmark, as he was hired assistant coach of FC Helsingør, under manager Daniel Pedersen.

These were the sad statistics for FC Helsingør, who finished in last place in the Danish 1st Division, which is why the club confirmed on June 1, 2024 that they had fired Santos as head coach.