Willian José da Silva (born 23 November 1991), known as Willian José, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan from Real Sociedad.
Club career
Grêmio Barueri
Born in Porto Calvo, Alagoas, Willian José started his career at local CRB’s youth setup, before joining Grêmio Barueri in 2008, aged 17. On 1 August 2009 he made his first team – and Série A – debut, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–2 loss at Botafogo.
Willian José scored his first goal as a professional on 17 January of the following year, netting his side’s only in a 1–1 draw at Sertãozinho for the Campeonato Paulista championship. He scored six further times during the campaign, which ended in relegation.
São Paulo
On 13 January 2011 Willian José joined São Paulo. He was mostly used as a backup to Luís Fabiano and Dagoberto in his first year, and despite the latter leaving for Internacional in 2012, he was still third-choice behind new signing Osvaldo.
Grêmio / Santos
On 13 December 2012 Willian José moved to Grêmio, but after appearing rarely he signed with Santos FC in May of the following year. He appeared in 28 matches during his only season at Peixe, scoring five goals.
Real Madrid
On 8 January 2014 Willian José moved abroad, signing a six-month deal with Real Madrid, being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División. After scoring a hat-trick in a 3–2 win at Recreativo de Huelva, he was called up for the main squad and was on the bench for the matches against Real Sociedad and UD Almería.
Willian José made his La Liga debut on 11 May, replacing compatriot Casemiro in a 0–2 loss at Celta de Vigo. In June, however, he was released.
Zaragoza
Willian José with Real Sociedad in 2016
Willian José signed a one-year deal with Real Zaragoza in the second level on 29 August 2014. He made his debut for the club on 7 September, replacing David Muñoz in a 1–4 heavy loss at FC Barcelona B.
Willian José scored his first goal for the club on 12 October 2014, in a 3–3 away draw against CD Lugo. He also scored braces against UD Las Palmas (3–5 away defeat) and Girona FC (4–1 away win), finishing the campaign with ten goals as his side missed out promotion in the play-offs.
Las Palmas
On 30 July 2015, Willian José signed a one-year contract with Las Palmas, newly promoted to the top tier. His first goal in the category occurred on 12 December, the game’s only in a home success against Real Betis.
On 25 January 2016, Willian José scored a brace in a 2–3 loss at Levante UD. On 20 February, he scored a first-half equalizer against league leaders FC Barcelona, but the hosts would eventually lose by 1–2. He also scored the equalizer against former club Real Madrid on 13 March, but the hosts again lost by 1–2.
Real Sociedad
On 31 July 2016, Willian José signed a five-year deal with fellow league team Real Sociedad. On 21 September, he scored a double in a 4–1 home routing of former club Las Palmas.
Loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers
On 23 January 2021, he joined Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers for the remainder of the 2020–21 season, with the option to make the deal permanent at its conclusion. José made his first appearance for Wolves as a second-half substitute in a 0–0 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on 27 January 2021, making a vital headed clearance of a goal-bound shot from Chelsea’s Kai Havertz in the last minute of added time.
José made his first start for Wolves in their next game away to Crystal Palace in the Premier League on 30 January 2021.
José made his debut appearance at Molineux in a Premier League fixture against Arsenal on 2 February 2021 that Wolves won 2–1, thus ensuring Wolves did the league double over Arsenal in 2020–21 for the first time since 1978–79. José won the penalty that Rúben Neves converted for the first of Wolves’s two goals.
On 9 April, José scored what would’ve been his first goal for Wolves in a 1–0 away win against Fulham, but was controversially disallowed by the video assistant referee after a cross from Nélson Semedo to Daniel Podence was ruled offside. On 17 April, José scored his first Wolves goal in a 1–0 home league win over Sheffield United, sealing the Blades’ relegation to the EFL Championship.
International career
In 2011, Willian José was a member of both the FIFA U-20 World Cup and South American Youth Championship winning squads with Brazil, scoring twice in the former and thrice in the latter.
On 12 March 2018, he received his first call-up for the senior team for two friendly matches against Russia and Germany, but he didn’t play either one.
Career statistics
- As of 17 April 2021
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Grêmio Barueri | 2009 | Série A | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2010 | 19 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 24 | 7 | ||
| Subtotal | 26 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 7 | ||
| São Paulo (loan) | 2011 | Série A | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 22 | 1 |
| 2012 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 44 | 15 | ||
| Subtotal | 28 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 24 | 12 | 66 | 16 | ||
| Grêmio (loan) | 2013 | Série A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 3 |
| Santos (loan) | 2013 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 5 | |||
| Real Madrid B (loan) | 2013–14 | Segunda División | 16 | 4 | — | — | — | 16 | 4 | |||
| Real Madrid (loan) | 2013–14 | La Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| Zaragoza (loan) | 2014–15 | Segunda División | 33 | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | 4 | 3 | 38 | 10 | |
| Las Palmas (loan) | 2015–16 | La Liga | 30 | 9 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 10 | ||
| Real Sociedad | 2016–17 | 28 | 12 | 6 | 2 | — | — | 34 | 14 | |||
| 2017–18 | 34 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | — | 40 | 20 | |||
| 2018–19 | 31 | 11 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 34 | 11 | ||||
| 2019–20 | 37 | 11 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 41 | 11 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 6 | ||
| Total | 144 | 52 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 171 | 62 | ||
| Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | 2020–21 | Premier League | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 313 | 85 | 29 | 5 | 24 | 9 | 38 | 19 | 404 | 118 | ||
- ^ Jump up to:a b All appearances in Copa Sudamericana
- ^ Jump up to:a b c All appearances in Campeonato Paulista
- ^ All appearances in Copa Libertadores
- ^ All appearances in Campeonato Gaúcho
- ^ All appearances in Segunda División play-offs
- ^ Jump up to:a b All appearances in UEFA Europa League
- ^ All appearances in Supercopa de España
Honours
Club
São Paulo
- Copa Sudamericana: 2012
Real Madrid
- Copa del Rey: 2013–14
Real Sociedad
- Copa del Rey: 2019–20
International
Brazil U20
- South American Youth Championship: 2011
- FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2011