New striker in Amsterdam: Meet Marcos Leonardo

Marcos Leonardo Santos Almeida, the full name of Ajax's newest signing, was born in Itapetinga, in the eastern Brazilian state of Bahia, on May 2, 2003. His football journey, however, began further south. Santos FC, from São Paulo, brought the young forward into their academy and handed him his professional debut on August 21, 2020. Aged just seventeen, Leonardo came on with ten minutes remaining, four minutes after the only goal of the game, as Santos secured a 1-0 away win over Sport Club do Recife.

Off the mark
Leonardo scored his first goal for Santos Futebol Clube six weeks later. Away to Goiás EC, he entered the match in the 72nd minute and found the net within five minutes. At the age of 17 years and 155 days, he made it 3-1 in what eventually became a 3-2 victory. During his debut season, he featured in 22 official matches and scored five goals.

After almost four seasons, Leonardo made the move to Europe. Across his final two campaigns at Santos, he scored 43 goals and registered 163 shots, 61 of which were on target. Overall, he made 168 appearances for the Brazilian club, starting 126 of them. He played more than 11,000 minutes, scored 54 goals and provided eleven assists before joining Benfica in January 2024.

Goal on debut
Leonardo made an immediate impact in Portugal. He debuted on January 14, 2024, at home against Rio Ave, coming off the bench and scoring in a 4-1 victory. During his first half-season in the Portuguese league, he averaged a goal every other game, scoring seven times in fourteen league appearances. Two of those came in a big clash with SC Braga. Introduced in the 70th minute with Benfica trailing 1-0, Leonardo equalised a minute later. After former Ajax winger David Neres had made it 2-1, Leonardo wrapped up the win by scoring Benfica's third.

His spell in the Portuguese capital lasted eight months and produced eight goals in 24 appearances. He played 495 minutes, averaging one goal every 62 minutes. All eight goals came from inside the penalty area: three with his right foot, three with his left and two headers. In September 2024, Al-Hilal signed the striker, where he joined the likes of Yassine Bounou, Kalidou Koulibaly, João Cancelo, Rúben Neves and Aleksandar Mitrović. 

Leonardo impressed straight away in his first season in Saudi Arabia, scoring seventeen goals in 24 league appearances. Between December 7, 2024 and March 15, 2025, he enjoyed a particularly prolific spell, scoring fifteen times in thirteen league matches. He also found the net regularly in the cup (three games, three goals) and in the AFC Champions League Elite (eleven games, five goals).

Topscorer at the FIFA Club World Cup
Having represented almost every Brazilian youth national team, Leonardo carried his excellent form into the FIFA Club World Cup. In the opening match against Real Madrid (1-1), he provided an assist before scoring in a 2-0 win over CF Pachuca in the final group-stage match. Manchester City awaited in the Round of 16, and Leonardo once again showcased his instinct for goal. First, he reacted quickest to score the equaliser after a rebound, before netting the winning goal in extra time in the 112th minute to seal a dramatic 4-3 victory. Al-Hilal were then knocked out by Fluminense, despite another goal from Leonardo in a 2-1 defeat. With four goals, the Brazilian finished as the tournament's joint topscorer.

He also made a flying start to his second Saudi Pro League campaign, scoring six goals in his opening four matches. Al-Hilal finished second in the 2025/2026 season and lifted the domestic cup. Across his two seasons with the club, Leonardo scored 48 goals: 26 with his right foot, eleven with his left and eleven with his head. Excluding his Club World Cup appearances, he played 5,102 minutes and proved most dangerous in the first fifteen minutes after half-time, scoring eleven times. He also regularly delivered late in games, netting ten goals between the 75th and 90th minute.

Looking at the Saudi Pro League since the start of the 2024/2025 season, only four players have scored more league goals than Leonardo. Only Ivan Toney (72), Cristiano Ronaldo (64), Julián Quiñones (62) and Karim Benzema (50) have outscored his tally of 44. What stands out most is how few touches Leonardo needs to find the net. Most of his involvement comes inside the penalty area, and when he gets a shot away, it often ends in a goal.

The next chapter, hopefully filled with many more goals, now begins in Amsterdam.Welcome, Marcos.