Born in Mairinque, in the São Paulo state, César Martins started competing in hometown club Atlético Sorocaba in the Campeonato Paulista, where his performances sparked the interest of Ponte Preta which signed him on a loan deal on 26 April 2013.
[1][2] At Ponte Preta, César Martins assumed a starting position, helping the team reach the 2013 Copa Sudamericana Finals, lost to Lanús, moving permanently to Macaca side in December 2014.
[3] As the Brazilian team sought to benefit financially from recent performances,[4] on 2 July 2014, they announced that César had signed a five-year deal with incumbent Portuguese champions Benfica for an undisclosed fee, later confirmed to be €2.2M for half of his economic rights.
[7] In late January 2015, he suffered a muscular injury, missing several months,[8][9] only reappearing on 2 May 2015, when he played for reserve side in a 1–0 home win against Braga B in Segunda Liga.
In May 2016, he was approached by Flamengo fans outside a shopping market, who verbally insulted him and threw rocks at his car, with his wife and child inside.