Mediated by Naldo
©IMAGO
As expected, VfL Wolfsburg have announced the signing of Cleiton (22). The central defender will join Wolves on a free transfer in January from Brazilian champions and Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo Rio de Janeiro, with whom he has a contract until June 30, 2030.
Alongside left-back Rogério (27) and midfielder Vini Souza (26), Cleiton will be the third Brazilian in the VfL squad. Like Souza, the 1.94 meter tall defender is represented by the Bertolucci Sports consulting agency and, as with the summer newcomer, Cleiton’s move has also, according to the “KickerThe former Wolfsburg native Naldo played a mediating role.
“Cleiton combines physical presence with good game intelligence. He is a left-footed, modern central defender with great development potential. The commitment is also a result of the very good work of our scouting department. We trust Cleiton to work his way up to the level of the Bundesliga step by step and to take on an important role in our defense in the future,” said sports director Peter Christiansen.
Cleiton, who is seen as an anticipation of the possible imminent departure of Konstantinos Koulierakis (22), added: “Moving to VfL Wolfsburg is a big step in my career for me. The Bundesliga is one of the strongest leagues in the world and I want to learn and develop here every day. I am very grateful for the club’s trust and look forward to being on the pitch in the Wolfsburg jersey soon.”
Cleiton made his professional debut for Flamengo at the beginning of 2022, but only made 21 appearances for the first team – only 13 times in the starting line-up and only twice with significant playing time in the Série A. He was part of the squad once at the last Club World Cup, but was not used against Esperance in the group stage. Flamengo made it to the round of 16, where they finished against FC Bayern (2:4).
Even though it wasn’t enough to make the big breakthrough in Rio, the Brazilian media reports that Cleiton is a good aerial tackler. He is also said to have a good passing game and a confident one-on-one appearance. There was praise in April last year from former national coach Tite, who was in charge of the Flamengo team at the time. He said: “Bahia (Cleitons nickname because of his home state; editor) is a boy you will be hearing a lot about.”