Willian could feature in his 300th game in the top-flight on Wednesday evening, so we flick through who makes up the rest of the top 10 Brazilian players with the most Premier League appearances.
Brazilians and English football have been synonymous since Mirandinha arrived on Tyneside in 1987 for £587,000. As is customary in their native Brazil, they have often brought flair and skill in abundance, and below we take a look some of the players – old and current – who have made the Premier League their home for the longest.
Top 10 Brazilian Players With the Most Premier League Appearances
*still playing
10. Philippe Coutinho – 193*
Sneaking just ahead of Alisson to rank in the top 10, it is easy to forget just how effective Phillippe Coutinho proved for Liverpool in his first Premier League stint.
Although we have put an asterisk next to his name, he is currently on loan at Qatari top-flight club Al-Duhail, which almost certainly signals the end of his troubling career at Aston Villa, where he was far from a lock in the starting XI.
Nevertheless, the mercurial Brazilian carries that ‘streets won’t forget’ kind of aura. He often danced and dazzled his way to a commendable 85 goal contributions in 193 appearances, including 19 goals from outside the box for Liverpool which is bettered only by long-distance specialist Steven Gerrard.
For whatever reason, his career didn’t quite pan out the way everyone expected when he departed for Barcelona, but he is deserving of his place among this illustrious list of names.
=8. Gabriel Jesus – 195*
Only two other players on this list boasts more Premier League winner’s medals that Gabriel Jesus, who lifted four titles with Manchester City before departing for Arsenal.
A striker by trade, Jesus recently confessed his strong suit isn’t actually goalscoring. Indeed, that is reflected by his highest scoring season in 2019/20 where he managed just 14 goals.
However, his contribution in possession and his near-unmatched ability to hold the ball up to support the rest of the forward line is what makes him integral to Arsenal, and formerly City.
Gabriel Jesus has 𝗡𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥 𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗧 a Premier League match in which he has 𝗦𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗗 in.
58 matches
53 wins
5 draws
0 losses🤯 #afc pic.twitter.com/NULua0hQEh
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) December 6, 2023
After playing a starring role in his 194th Premier League appearance against Wolves at the beginning December, he jumped ahead of compatriot Philippe Coutinho to rank at number nine.
He narrowly missed out on adding a fifth title last season, but Premier League betting sites still have Arsenal as second-favourites to end Jesus’s former side’s monopoly.
=8. Heurelho Gomes – 195
Heurelho Gomes managed to stretch his Premier League career over a decade by the time he pulled the curtain down. Acorss 195 appearances, the majority of which came at Watford, he kept 53 clean sheets.
Gomes certainly flew the flag for the rising reputation of Brazilian keepers in England, blazing the trail for arguably the league’s two best current keepers – Ederson and Alisson.
Although he failed to add any major honours during his time in England, he finished runner-up in both the League Cup and FA Cup.
7. Richarlison – 211*
Now at his third Premier League club, Richarlison has hit a solid half-century of goals across his 211 appearances. His first two seasons at Everton after joining Watford were by far his most fruitful, chipping in with 13 goals in each.
He has failed to reach those heights since, but Tottenham were prepared to look past that with a view to releasing his full potential, and made him their most expensive signing of the summer at £60m.
The Brazilian has often cut an isolated and deflated figure in north London, scoring just two goals in his 38 appearances. He is regaining his fitness after a groin operation, which he says has had an effect on his performances for months, so the hope is the 26-year-old can start benefitting from Ange Postecoglou’s chance-creation machine upon his return.
6. David Luiz – 213
Forget Darwin Nunez, David Luiz really was the original agent of chaos.
Undoubtedly an effective centre-back on his day, Luiz also seemed to carry himself with frenzied panic whenever he stepped out onto the pitch. This nervousness fed the error-hungry Arsenal team towards the end of the so-called ‘banter years’, which Mikel Arteta has since remedied by cutting the dead wood, of which Luiz was a part.
For all his criticisms, there is no doubting Luiz’s commitment to the cause and the Brazilian leant a helping hand in winning every trophy possible bar the League Cup during his spells at Chelsea and Arsenal.
THAT stupendous dipping strike from 40 yards against Fulham in 2013 will never be forgotten.
5. Ederson – 230*
As mentioned, there are only two Brazilians who have won more Premier League titles than Gabriel Jesus.
Ederson lifted his fifth league title last season in his most decorated year at Manchester City yet. His remarkable consistency between the sticks over the past six years has seen him feature 230 times in the Premier League, keeping an astonishing 106 cleans sheets in the process.
Add to that three Golden Glove awards, and as many assists, which should come as no surprise given his unmatched distribution.
Ederson really found his range against Liverpool 🎯🤤 pic.twitter.com/8bzZpsfAPc
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) November 29, 2023
City’s Mr Reliable has also missed just 10 games through injury across seven seasons, meaning Pep Guardiola has rarely had to turn to his back-ups, or even consider jumping into the transfer market for a replacement.
Now 30, he is still around the prime goalkeeping age and has plenty left in the tank to reach the reach very top of the Brazilian players with the most Premier League appearances list.
4. Lucas Leiva – 247
Just edging into the top four of all-time Brazilian Premier League appearances is Lucas Leiva, who spent 10 years at Liverpool.
Despite failing to lift any silverware in his decade-long stint on Merseyside, Leiva endeared himself to those in the city. He was even voted the club’s player of the year in the 2010/11 season despite largely operating as a deep-lying midfielder.
He is perhaps best remembered for his unwavering commitment, arriving as a fresh-faced 20-year-old and growing to become one of Liverpool’s most loyal generals in a period of underwhelming results.
All in all, he eventually made 346 appearances for Liverpool, 247 of which came in the Premier League.
3. Roberto Firmino – 256
A former club and national teammate of Lucas Leiva just misses out on the top two.
Roberto Firmino can safely be regarded as one of the finest Brazilians to ever grace the Premier League. He is one of the last vestiges of a dying breed of playmaker/striker hybrids, and very few can operate in the half spaces as well as he can.
He proved an integral part of delivering the Premier League title to Liverpool for the first time in 30 years, and his contribution throughout his eight seasons for the Reds can not be understated.
He rounded off his final year with 11 goals, meaning he hit double figures in the Premier League in half of his eight seasons.
2. Fernandinho – 264
The top two Brazilian players with the most Premier League appearances have flittered between first and second a number of times, but Fernandinho’s decision to return to his homeland has allowed Willian to surpass his record.
Alongside Ederson, Fernandinho is the Premier League’s most decorated Brazilian with five titles.
Often the unsung hero in a Manchester City team dazzling with multi-million pound signings, he quietly but effectively proved himself to be one of Pep Guardiola’s most trusted assets. This eventually earned him the privilege of club captain in his final two seasons before departing in the summer of 2022.
A club legend in every sense of the word, he is fondly remembered by City fans and is among the finest Brazilian’s to every grace these shores.
Oh, and that right foot – wow.
1. Willian – 299*
Fulham welcome Nottingham Forest to Craven Cottage on Wednesday, where the Premier League’s Brazilian appearances record holder can hit an astonishing milestone of 300 games.
Willian was surpassed by Fernandinho in April 2022 as the all time appearances holder, but the former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder made an unexpected return to England, having spent one season at Corinthians between his spell in north London.
Two Premier League titles, 89 goal contributions and countless memories – Willian is right up there with the Brazilian Premier League greats.
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