Born in Serrinha, Bahia, Thiago Santana began his career with São Carlos, making his senior debuts in 2011 Campeonato Paulista Série A3.
[3] Thiago Santana made his debut in the main category of Brazilian football on 7 June 2015, starting and scoring the winner in a 2–1 home success over Palmeiras.
[7] In 23 total games, he scored once to open a 2–0 win at Benfica Castelo Branco in the fourth round of the Taça de Portugal on 20 November.
[9] He scored 15 times in 33 games in his first season in the Azores as they won promotion as runners-up to Nacional; this put him behind only Ricardo Gomes and compatriot Carlos Vinícius in the overall top scorers.
[12] He scored six times in the upcoming season as they retained their place in the league, including two on 5 June 2020 in a 3–2 home win over Braga, played in Oeiras near Lisbon due to COVID-19 complications.
Thiago Santana remained with Shimizu S-Pulse in the J2 League and continued to be an important player, scoring 14 goals in the season and helping the club to a fourth-placed finish.