Felipe Melo

Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brazilian club Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras. Melo was a Brazilian international and played in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He arrived in Europe in 2005 and has played for top division clubs like Juventus, Fiorentina, Almería, Racing de Santander and Mallorca. Having held Spanish nationality since the 2007-08 season, he was not counted as a non-EU player in the Italian Serie A. As of 2015, he is the most decorated Brazilian player in Turkish domestic competitions, winning seven cups, beating the record of his fellow countryman and ex-Galatasaray S.K. goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel. Melo began his career for Flamengo, where he made 69 appearances and scored no goals in his two-season spell with the club. Following impressive performances with Flamengo, Melo transferred to Cruzeiro in the summer of 2003, but would remain for just one season. In his single season with Cruzeiro, Melo managed to make 31 league appearances, scoring two goals. Following yet another impressive season in Brazil, he was sold to Grêmio. Following his transfer to Grêmio, Melo managed to make an additional 19 appearances and adding three goals to his tally in his native Brazil. He would only remain in Porto Alegre for 2004, because Grêmio was relegated that year and the team was dismantled. Following several impressive seasons in Brazil, Melo moved to Spain with Mallorca prior to the 2005-06 season. This transfer was short lived, however, as Melo made just eight appearances in six months with the club, before transferring permanently to Racing de Santander. After joining Racing, Melo began to prove his worth again for the club. He would remain in Santander for two seasons, making nearly 50 appearances with five goals for the Spanish club. In July 2007, Melo transferred to fellow La Liga club Almería. He was a regular in the clubs' starting XI and would make 34 league appearances with an impressive seven goals. An outstanding season led to the attraction of several European clubs, scouting the defensive midfielder, and in the summer of 2008, Melo transferred to the Italian Serie A to play for Fiorentina. After a successful first season at Almería, Melo agreed to transfer to Italian side Fiorentina in a reported EUR13 million transfer for the 2008-09 season. This was confirmed after Almería's match against Recreativo de Huelva in La Liga. He made his debut in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against Slavia Prague, and scored his first goal in a Viola shirt against Atalanta in the Serie A. After a very impressive debut season in the Serie A, which included 29 appearances and two goals, the Brazilian transferred to Juventus F.C. in Turin. On 30 June 2009, following a lauded performance at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, Melo signed a new five-year contract with Fiorentina, with a release clause of EUR25 million. At this point, Arsenal was reportedly in negotiations to sign the player. Within days, however, Melo was the subject of a bid from Juventus F.C.. The two rival clubs eventually agreed a fee of EUR25 million in total and Juve's Marco Marchionni joined Fiorentina on 15 July 2009 for a tagged price of EUR4.5 million. Later, Cristiano Zanetti, tagged for EUR2 million, re-joined Fiorentina. This allowed Juve to pay Fiorentina EUR18.5 million in three instalments. The first half of the 2009-10 season was one to forget despite a bright start to his Juventus F.C. career. He scored his first Juve goal against top-of-the-table rivals A.S. Roma in a 3-1 win. In the December Derby d'Italia fixture at home, he was controversially sent off for a supposed elbow at Internazionale's Mario Balotelli. The incident sparked a fiery argument between his teammate Gianluigi Buffon and Inter midfielder Thiago Motta, and both had to be separated by Inter Milan and Juventus F.C. players. Melo was instrumental in his sides win over Milan at the San Siro in 2010-11 season, and was later voted man of the match. On 22 July 2011, Melo joined Galatasaray S.K. in Turkey on a season-long loan deal for EUR1.5 million, with an option to transfer permanently at the end of the season for EUR13 million. He agreed on a contract with a net annual salary of EUR3.3 million plus a per-appearance bonus of EUR30,000, replacing departed Lorik Cana as the club's new central midfielder. He was attributed to the nickname "Pitbull" by the team supporters because of his passionate playing style, which also helped him become a fans favourite quickly; it is said that he displayed the mutual respect back with his tattoo of the club's mascot, a lion, on his arm. This is not true, however, because in his own statement, he states that this is a coincidence and that he got the tattoo due to the fact that in Brazil, a lion is a symbol for Jesus Christ. Melo scored his first goal on 18 September 2011 from a 35-metre-long shot against Samsunspor. He scored 12 goals in 36 league matches, and at the end of the season, he was among the champion squad. Melo had been expected to make a permanent move to Galatasaray S.K., but on 24 July, transfer fee negotiations between the club and Juventus F.C. broke down due to the Turkish club requesting a lower fee for the player. On 14 August, the two clubs were able to agree another loan deal sending Melo to Turkey for the 2012-13 season, for EUR1.75 million, with the agreement including "the option, to be exercised by Galatasaray S.K. by 30 April 2013, for the permanent acquisition of the player for a price of EUR6.5 million". Melo also had a wage cut to EUR2.9 million with an appearances-based bonus of EUR25,000. On 24 November, in a game between Galatasaray S.K. and Elazigspor in the Süper Lig, Melo saved a penalty after regular goalkeeper Fernando Muslera had committed a foul and been sent off and Galatasaray S.K. had already used all their substitutions. On 20 July 2013, Melo made a permanent move to Galatasaray S.K. on a three-year contract worth EUR3.1 million plus bonuses, while the transfer fee was reduced to EUR3.75 million plus bonuses of a maximum EUR500,000, which the club activated. He made his 100th appearance for the club on 2 February 2014 in Süper Lig encounter against Bursaspor in a 6-0 home win. On 13 August 2015, Melo signed a four-year contract extension; during the first season of said contract, the yearly salary remained unchanged at EUR3.1 million, but is set to be reduced to EUR2.6 million for next three seasons.