On 25 August 2012, at the Benito Villamarín, Leonardo Carrilho Baptistão made his top-flight debut for Rayo Vallecano against Real Betis. He set up the opening goal and scored the second in a 2-1 away win. Born on 26 August 1992 in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, Léo Baptistão is a forward who holds both Brazilian and Spanish nationality. His career has taken him to Rayo Vallecano, Atlético de Madrid, Real Betis, Villarreal, Espanyol, China’s Wuhan, Santos and UD Almería, which he joined in August 2022.
He started out at Portuguesa Santista and in the 2008-09 season crossed the Atlantic to join Rayo Vallecano’s youth ranks. A bout of hepatitis interrupted his adjustment, and the club later loaned him to CD San Fernando de Henares to get him game time. By 2010 he was part of Rayo’s under-19 side in the División de Honor. He made his first appearance for the reserve team, Rayo Vallecano B, on 2 October 2011, and finished that 2011-12 season with 17 games and 4 goals for the B side.
Breakthrough at Rayo Vallecano
He moved up to the first team in the summer of 2012, and his debut goal in Seville earned him a regular place. He ended the 2012-13 season with 28 league games, 7 goals and 7 assists, figures that drew interest from several clubs. In April 2013 an injury threatened to rule him out for the rest of the campaign, but his performances that year had already shaped his next move.
Atlético de Madrid and the loan spells
On 3 June 2013 Atlético de Madrid announced his signing on a five-year deal. The Spanish press put the fee at around seven million euros, and Rayo kept a first option to take him back on loan. He made his league debut for Atlético on 17 August 2013 and, on 18 September, his first Champions League appearance against Zenit, scoring the goal that made it 3-1. After five league games he was loaned to Real Betis in January 2014, playing 17 matches and scoring once in a season that ended in relegation for the Seville club.
In August 2014 he returned to Rayo Vallecano on loan and scored 7 goals in 26 games in 2014-15. He spent the following season, 2015-16, on loan at Villarreal, with 26 league appearances and 3 goals.
Three seasons at Espanyol
In July 2016 he completed a permanent move to RCD Espanyol, reported at around seven million euros. At Cornellà he enjoyed the steadiest spell of his top-flight career. He scored 6 goals in 21 games in 2016-17 and 8 in 36 in 2017-18, the most matches he played in a single La Liga season. In the first half of 2018-19 he added another 20 appearances and 2 goals.
China and a return to Brazil
On 31 January 2019 he left Espanyol for Wuhan in the Chinese Super League. He scored 7 goals in 27 games in his first year there. In 2020 he played 17 matches and scored twice, and in 2021 he made only two appearances before heading home. In August 2021 he signed for Santos, the club of his home city, and in the 2022 Brasileirão he scored 5 goals in 17 games.
The UD Almería years
On 11 August 2022 UD Almería announced his arrival on a four-year contract. It brought him back to the Spanish top flight in the same summer that goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco also joined the club. He played 28 games and scored 5 goals in 2022-23, then made 32 appearances with 6 goals in 2023-24, a season that ended with the Andalusian side relegated. In the Spanish second division in 2024-25 he scored 10 goals in 39 games, his best goal tally in a single Spanish league season.
Almería