Caio Lucas

Caio Lucas
	Caio Lucas playing for Benfica in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Caio Lucas Fernandes
Date of birth	19 April 1994 (age 30)
Place of birth	Araçatuba, São Paulo, Brazil
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Team information
Current team	Sharjah
Number	7
Youth career
2002–2005	América-SP
2005–2009	São Paulo
2009–2011	América-SP
2011–2013	Chiba Kokusai High School
Senior career*
Years	Team
2014–2016	Kashima Antlers
2016–2019	Al Ain
2019–2021	Benfica
2020–2021	→ Sharjah (loan)
2021–	Sharjah
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 7 October 2024

Caio Lucas Fernandes (born 19 April 1994), known as Caio Lucas or just Caio [ˈkajju], is an Emirati-Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Emirati Club Sharjah.

Born in Brazil, Luanzinho acquired Emirati citizenship in 2024.

Career

Born in Araçatuba, São Paulo,^[3] Caio Lucas started playing football in 2002, aged 8, at local clubs SMER Bosque Araçatuba and América-SP. He then played for São Paulo's youth teams from 2005 to 2009 but could not become professional, so he left the club and unsuccessfully tried to join rivals Santos and Palmeiras before returning to América. In 2011, when he was prepared to give up on football, he was discovered by a Japanese university that was playing in Birigui, Brazil.^[4] Almost aged 17, he moved to Japan that year to enroll in Chiba Kokusai High School in Kimitsu, where he played for three years.^[3]^[5]

After his graduation, Caio Lucas joined the J1 League club, the Kashima Antlers in 2014. In his first professional season, under the coaching of Toninho Cerezo, Caio scored eight goals as Kashima Antlers qualified for the AFC Champions League. Moreover, he was named J. League's Young Player of the Year in 2014 and won the 2016 J1 League and 2015 J.League Cup.^[6] In 2019, following a three-year spell with Emirati club Al Ain, with whom he reached the 2018 FIFA Club World Cup Final, Caio signed a four-year contract with Portuguese club Benfica.^[7]^[8]

On 23 January 2020, Sharjah signed Caio Lucas from Benfica on loan for 18 months.^[9]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 7 October 2024^[10]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		League cup^[b]		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Kashima Antlers	2014	J1 League	30	8	1	1	6	0	—		—		37	9
	2015		32	10	0	0	4	2	6^[c]	0	—		42	12
	2016		16	5	0	0	5	1	—		—		21	6
	Total		78	23	1	1	15	3	6	0	—		100	27
Al Ain	2016–17	UPL	24	12	2	0	5	1	14^[d]	5	—		45	18
	2017–18		19	5	3	3	5	4	9^[e]	1	—		36	13
	2018–19		22	7	1	1	6	7	3^[c]	0	5^[f]	2	37	17
	Total		65	24	6	4	16	12	26	6	5	2	118	51
Benfica	2019–20	Primeira Liga	4	1	2	0	2	0	3^[g]	0	0	0	11	1
Sharjah	2019–20	UPL	6	2	2	1	0	0	6^[c]	2	—		13	5
	2020–21		21	6	3	1	2	0	5^[c]	1	—		31	8
	2021–22		20	14	5	3	4	1	7^[c]	2	1	0	37	20
	2022–23		22	9	4	2	4	1	—		1	0	29	12
	2023–24		22	11	2	1	2	0	8^[c]	2	1	0	35	14
	2024–25		5	5	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	8	7
	Total		96	47	16	8	13	5	26	9	3	0	156	66
Career total			243	95	25	13	46	19	63	13	8	2	385	145