Zé Welison

José Welison da Silva (born 11 March 1995), known as Zé Welison, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Fortaleza.

Zé Welison

Zé Welison with Sport Recife in 2021
Personal information
Full name	José Welison da Silva
Date of birth	(1995-03-11) 11 March 1995 (age 30)
Place of birth	São Pedro, Brazil
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Fortaleza
Number	17
Youth career
	Cruzeiro de Macaíba
2009–2010	ABC
2011–2015	Vitória
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2019	Vitória	81	(4)
2018	→ Atlético Mineiro (loan)	15	(0)
2019–2022	Atlético Mineiro	34	(0)
2020–2021	→ Botafogo (loan)	23	(0)
2021	→ Sport Recife (loan)	33	(2)
2022	→ Fortaleza (loan)	44	(4)
2022–	Fortaleza	100	(4)
International career
2014	Brazil U20
2014	Brazil U21	3	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 21 April 2024

Club career

Vitória

Born in São Pedro, Rio Grande do Norte, Zé Welison joined Vitória's youth setup in 2011, from ABC.^[1] At the former, he won the Copa do Brasil Sub-20 in 2012, and was promoted to the first team in the 2014 season.

Zé Welison made his senior debut on 23 January 2014, starting and scoring his team's third in a 3–1 Copa do Nordeste away win against Confiança.^[2] On 26 February, he renewed his contract until the end of 2018.^[3]

Zé Welison was named in the Best XI of the 2014 Campeonato Baiano, and was elected the Best Newcomer of the tournament.^[4] He made his Série A debut on 19 April, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away loss against Internacional.^[5]

Zé Welison scored his first goal in the top tier on 27 April 2014, netting his team's second in a 2–2 home draw against Atlético Paranaense.^[6] He was a regular starter during his first season, as his side suffered relegation, but subsequently suffered injuries which kept him out for several months of competition.^[7]

Atlético Mineiro

On 28 June 2018, Zé Welison joined Atlético Mineiro on loan for the remainder of the season.^[8] The following 7 January, he transferred to the club on a permanent basis, signing a five-year contract.^[9]

Regularly used during the 2018 and 2019 campaigns, Zé Welison was deemed surplus to requirements at Galo after the arrival of Jorge Sampaoli.^[10]

International career

Zé Welison was a part of the Brazil under-20 side that won the 2014 Panda Cup in China.^[11] In that year, he also featured for the under-21s in some friendlies.^[12]

Career statistics

As of 1 January 2022^[13]

Club	Season	League			State League		Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vitória	2014	Série A	21	1	2	0	2	0	2[a]	0	4[b]	1	31	2
	2015	Série B	1	0	3	0	—		—		3[b]	0	7	0
	2016	Série A	13	0	9	0	3	0	1[a]	0	—		26	0
	2017		7	1	6	0	3	0	—		5[b]	1	21	2
	2018		6	0	6	0	6	0	—		3[b]	0	21	0
	Total		48	2	26	2	14	0	3	0	15	2	106	4
Atlético Mineiro	2018	Série A	15	0	—		—		—		—		15	0
	2019		18	0	9	0	3	0	12[c]	0	—		42	0
	2020		0	0	7	0	1	0	1[a]	0	—		9	0
	Total		33	0	16	0	4	0	13	0	—		66	0
Botafogo	2020	Série A	17	0	—		—		—		—		17	0
	2021		—		5	0	1	0	—		—		6	0
	Total		17	0	5	0	1	0	—		—		23	0
Sport Recife	2021	Série A	31	2	2	0	—		—		0	0	33	2
Career total			129	4	49	2	19	0	16	0	15	2	228	6

1. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
2. Appearance(s) in Copa do Nordeste
3. Seven appearances in Copa Libertadores, five appearances in Copa Sudamericana

Honours

Vitória

• Campeonato Baiano: 2016, 2017
• Copa do Brasil Sub-20: 2012

Atlético Mineiro

• Campeonato Mineiro: 2020

Fortaleza

• Copa do Nordeste: 2022, 2024
• Campeonato Cearense: 2022, 2023

International

Brazil U20

• Panda Cup: 2014

Individual

• Campeonato Baiano Team of The Tournament: 2014
• Campeonato Baiano Best Newcomer: 2014