Formed in the youth ranks of local Vitória SC, Guimarães-born Vieirinha caught the interest of Porto and eventually finished his football grooming there.

[6][3] After only a few games, he picked up a serious injury (torn ankle ligament) in a derby against Aris Thessaloniki, caused by Vitolo, a player who would join PAOK the following year.

[7] In mid-July 2009, PAOK came to terms with Porto to make the move permanent for roughly €1 million, following Vieirinha's wish to continue playing under coach Santos.

Despite considerable transfer market speculation owing to his increased potential,[12] Vieirinha started 2011–12 in the same place, helping the side progress to the Europa League group phase.

With a short statement on 3 January 2012, PAOK announced the club had come to terms regarding the transfer of Vieirinha to German side VfL Wolfsburg; the player signed until June 2015, for approximately €4 million.

[17] Vierinha played at right-back as Wolfsburg won its first domestic cup on 30 May 2015, with a 3–1 win over Borussia Dortmund,[18] and featured in the same position on 1 August as they conquered the DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich in a penalty shootout.

[19] On 8 December, again as a winger, he was one of three players on target for the hosts as they defeated Manchester United 3–2 in the last round of the UEFA Champions League's group stage and progressed at the expense of their adversary.

[37] At Euro 2016, under former PAOK boss Santos, he was the first choice right-back during the group stage[38] but lost his place to Southampton's Cédric Soares in the knockout phase.