Although Clayton was born in Brazil, he spent a large part of his club career in Tunisia playing for Étoile du Sahel and Espérance de Tunis, and became a naturalized citizen in time for the 1998 World Cup.

[3] He also spent time with Qatari-based side Al Sadd.

In 2006, he left Al Sadd for Turkish club Sakaryaspor.

He has 38 caps (2 goals) for Tunisia He was an over-age player on the Tunisian 2004 Olympic football team that exited in the first round, finishing third in Group C, behind group and gold medal winners Argentina and runners-up Australia.

[4] He was part of the squad that won the 2004 African Cup of Nations.