Damião won his first major title in August 2010 when he helped Internacional defeat Guadalajara in the Copa Libertadores Finals.

[18] It was the highest fee ever paid by a Brazilian club to sign a national player,[19] only behind the R$60.5 million that brought Carlos Tevez to Corinthians.

[20] Damião made his Santos debut on 6 February 2014, starting in a 2–1 away win over Linense, scoring a goal which was later disallowed due to offside.

On 29 December 2014, after lengthy negotiations, Damião was loaned to league champions Cruzeiro, in a season-long deal, after a largely disappointing year at Santos.

[24] The decision was overturned the following month, with the fee of 200 million (reais for any national transfer and euros for any international) being activated if he were to sign for another club.

[28] On 4 February 2016, after a turnover in the club's board which involved the president's resignation, Damião signed a six-month deal with Betis with a buyout clause set on €12 million.

[29] He made his La Liga debut 23 days later, replacing Jorge Molina after 56 minutes of an eventual 2–2 draw against Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio Benito Villamarín.

[35] He stayed with Internacional in 2018, helping the team finish third in the 2018 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and scoring 10 goals in the competition, just one less than teammate Nico López.

[41] On 1 January 2021, he assisted Kaoru Mitoma's match winning goal in a 1–0 victory over Gamba Osaka in the final of the 2020 Emperor's Cup.

[45] Damião was given his first call-up to the Brazil national team in March 2011 for the friendly against Scotland after Alexandre Pato withdrew from the squad due to injury.