Corinthians striker faces club that launched his career | OneFootball

Corinthians takes the field on Sunday night (23) at Couto Pereira Stadium to face Coritiba at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time), in a match valid for the 24th round of the 2026 Brazilian Championship. At the moment, Timão sits ninth with 32 points — eight wins, eight draws, and seven defeats — with 25 goals scored and 22 conceded.

The match will be special for 22-year-old forward Kaio César, who will reunite with the club where he first broke through in his career. Born in Maceió, Alagoas, the winger took his first steps in football/futsal at the age of six, having trials at Fluminense and Sport. At the Pernambuco club, he played for about a year and a half before being released with the explanation that he was “too short.”

Photo: Rodrigo Coca/Agência Corinthians

At the age of 14, he arrived at Coritiba for a trial period, and his persistence led to him being approved and beginning to play for the Alto da Glória side. In the Paraná club’s youth setup, he quickly earned space and, in 2021, was part of the squad that won the Under-20 Copa do Brasil against Botafogo. The following season, he was also important in the Under-20 Paraná State Championship final, scoring one of the goals in the 2-2 draw against Athletico-PR. In the penalty shootout, Coxa came out on top.

His final moments in the youth ranks came in the 2022 Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, when he scored two goals in four matches and caught the attention of the professional team’s coaching staff. His debut for the senior side came on January 18, 2023, against Foz do Iguaçu, in the Paraná State Championship. For the first team, he scored three goals in 36 matches.

Kaio César last took the field in a Coritiba shirt on December 6, 2023. The opponent? Corinthians itself, in the final round of that year’s Brazilian Championship. On that day, Timão won 2-0, with goals from midfielder Fausto Vera and forward Ángel Romero.

The following year, he was sold to Vitória de Guimarães in Portugal. There, he played for two seasons and stood out, scoring four goals and providing eight assists in 47 matches. Soon after, he drew interest from Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, where he even played in the 2025 Club World Cup, in which the Saudis were eliminated in the quarterfinals. In the round of 16, they beat the mighty Manchester City of England 4-3.

At Al-Hilal, Kaio César found the net four times and provided nine assists in 39 matches. Toward the end of last year, however, he lost space in the squad and had already been monitored by Corinthians beforehand. In January 2026, the club from Parque São Jorge signed him on loan until the end of this season, with a purchase option set at six million euros (just over R$30 million). His contract with the Arab club runs until June 2028.

Kaio César arrived at Corinthians at the request of then-head coach Dorival Júnior to fill a gap in the squad — the lack of a pacey wide player. In his first months at Parque São Jorge, between late February and throughout March, he dealt with some physical issues. Since Fernando Diniz arrived in the first week of April, he has been getting regular minutes and establishing himself as one of the starters in the Corinthians squad.

His debut for Timão came on February 1, 2026, when the club from Parque São Jorge won the Brazilian Super Cup against Flamengo at Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasília with a 2-0 victory. On that occasion, the No. 37 came on late in the match and assisted forward Yuri Alberto for a stunning goal over opposing goalkeeper Rossi. So far, he has two goals and two assists in 24 matches (13 as a starter), with 11 wins, eight draws, and five defeats — a 56.9% success rate.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.