He began his career with Brazilian teams Flamengo, Cruzeiro and Grêmio, before moving to Spain in 2005, where he represented Mallorca, Racing Santander and Almería in La Liga.

Felipe Melo spent four seasons at Galatasaray, playing 154 total games and winning eight honours, including three Süper Lig titles.

In January 2005, Felipe Melo moved abroad for the first time, joining Spanish La Liga club Mallorca, who released Andrija Delibašić to give him a place.

[3] He played only eight times for the Balearic team, his season ending through knee ligament injury against Valencia in March;[4] they narrowly avoided relegation.

[9] He made his debut in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Slavia Prague, and scored his first goal in a Viola shirt against Atalanta in the Serie A.

On 30 June 2009, following a lauded performance with Brazil at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, Felipe Melo signed a new five-year contract with Fiorentina,[10] with a release clause of €25 million.

In the December Derby d'Italia fixture at home, he was controversially sent off for a supposed elbow at Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli.

[17][18] He agreed on a contract with a net annual salary of €3.3 million plus a per-appearance bonus of €30,000,[19] replacing departed Lorik Cana as the club's new central midfielder.

He was attributed to the nickname "Pitbull" by the team supporters because of his passionate playing style, which also helped him become a fans favourite quickly; it is said that he displayed the mutual respect back with his tattoo of the club's mascot, a lion, on his arm.

[20] This is not true, however, because in his own statement, he states that this is a coincidence and that he got the tattoo due to the fact that in Brazil, a lion is a symbol for Jesus Christ.

[30] As of 2015, he is the most decorated Brazilian player in Turkish domestic competitions, winning seven cups, beating the record of his fellow countryman and ex-Galatasaray goalkeeper Cláudio Taffarel.

[31] On 31 August 2015, Felipe Melo returned to Italy to sign with Inter Milan[32] on a two-year contract and a €3.7 million transfer fee, plus €500,000 bonuses for each UEFA Champions League group stage qualification of the club, up to the 2017–18 season.

He made his debut on 5 February in a 1–0 home win over Botafogo-SP on the first day of the Campeonato Paulista season; during the game he screamed in the ear of opponent Samuel Santos, which he admitted was done to liven up the fans.

Felipe Melo said that he improved as a player and a professional under the new manager, and contributed two goals, one being in a 3–0 win over Fluminense in the final stretch of the season.

[41] He scored three times in that year's national competition, including in derbies against Corinthians (1–1 away draw) and São Paulo (3–0 home win).

Felipe Melo was named to the Brazilian squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, playing in every match of the tournament for his side and scoring the opener in a 3–0 group stage win against the United States.

[53] On Brazil's return home after the World Cup, Felipe Melo took the brunt of the criticism of the fans as they threw insults, pushed and shoved towards the players.

[55][58][62] Felipe Melo is married to Roberta,[63] and they have one daughter (Pietra) and three sons, Davi, Linyker (who he named after the English centre forward Gary Lineker),[64] and Bernardo.

On 18 June 2013, through Twitter and Facebook, Felipe Melo offended Renato Maurício Prado, a pundit of the Fox Sports channel.