Football: Brazilian defender Cleiton joins Wolfsburg

Berlin, Dec 17 Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg announced on Wednesday that it has signed Brazilian defender Cleiton Santana dos Santos from Flamengo, with the transfer to take effect on January 1, 2026. Cleiton has agreed to a deal through June 30, 2030.

Cleiton joined Flamengo's renowned youth academy at the U-20 level in 2020 and made his professional debut for the nine-time Brazilian champion in January 2022. The 1.94-meter-tall defender made seven appearances in Brazil's top flight.

Wolfsburg will be Cleiton's first club outside his home country.

"Cleiton combines physical presence with good game intelligence," said VfL sporting director Peter Christiansen. "He is a left-footed, modern central defender with great development potential. The signing 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."

"The move to VfL Wolfsburg is a big step in my career. The Bundesliga is one of the strongest leagues in the world, and I want to learn and develop here every day. I'm very grateful for the club's trust and look forward to being on the pitch in a Wolfsburg jersey soon," Cleiton said.

VfL Wolfsburg are currently struggling in the 13th position in the Bundesliga standings with 15 points from 14 matches. They have only four wins, three draws, and seven defeats in the competition.

German giants FC Bayern Munich are leading the standings with 38 points from 14 matches, with 12 wins and two draws so far. They are followed by RB Leipzig (29) and Borussia Dortmund (29) in the second and third positions, while Bayer Leverkusen (26) are in fourth position, with TSG 1899 Hoffenheim in the fifth position.

Formed in September 1945, Wolfsburg is a German professional sports club that grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city.

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