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Airton (footballer, born February 1990)

Airton
Personal information
Full name Airton Ribeiro Santos
Date of birth (1990-02-21) 21 February 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team
Al-Kahrabaa
Number 14
Youth career
2003–2008 Nova Iguaçu
2007Mesquita (loan)
2008Flamengo (loan)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2008 Nova Iguaçu 0 (0)
2007Mesquita (loan) 0 (0)
2008Flamengo (loan) 16 (0)
2009 Flamengo 30 (0)
2010–2015 Benfica 19 (0)
2011–2012Flamengo (loan) 31 (1)
2013Internacional (loan) 13 (0)
2014–2015Botafogo (loan) 25 (0)
2015–2017 Botafogo 24 (0)
2018–2019 Fluminense 19 (0)
2020 Ermis Aradippou 2 (0)
2020–2021 Erbil SC
2021– Al-Kahrabaa
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Airton Ribeiro Santos (born 21 February 1990), simply known as Airton, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Al-Kahrabaa FC.

Club career

Early career

Airton started his career at Nova Iguaçu at the age of 13. At the end of 2007, Flamengo's youth coach Adílio asked for his loan. Airton also spent four months on loan at Mesquita in 2007, playing on the youth team.

Flamengo

Airton arrived at Flamengo, on loan, on 7 January 2008 to play for the club's youth team. His rights belonged to, at the time, Nova Iguaçu, which had him under contract until 2010. He would play for Flamengo until the end of 2008, but in 2008, Flamengo officially signed him, acquiring part of his rights — Nova Iguaçu and Traffic, an investors group, shared the other parts of his rights.[1][2]

His first match in the first-team was in a 1–1 draw against Vasco da Gama on 6 April 2008, and his debut in the Brazilian Série A was at Mineirão Stadium, coming off the bench in a 1–1 draw against Atlético Mineiro on 9 July.[3]

Benfica

In December 2009, after much speculation, Benfica signed Airton to a five-year contract.[4][5] Flamengo received a sum around €1.1 million for 15% of his rights. In Portugal, he acted mainly as a back-up for starter Javi García for the second part of the 2009-10 season. After struggling to perform on the same level in the following season, Airton was loaned to Flamengo.[6]

Return to Brazil

Airton returned to Flamengo from Benfica almost a year and a half after his original loan deal to Flamengo ended, penning a season-long loan deal on 10 June 2011.[7] In May 2012, it was extended until June 2013,[8] but was eventually cut short as he moved teams. In February 2013, Internacional, signed Airton on loan until December 2013, for a reported €300,000 fee.[9][10]

In January 2014, Airton moved to Botafogo until June 2014,[11] with the loan deal being later extended until 30 June 2015, effectively meaning Airton will not return to Benfica.[12][13] On 10 September 2014, Airton was sent off in a match against São Paulo after deliberately stepping on Alexandre Pato's head, and was suspended for two matches.[14] He also faced a two-year suspension for refusing to take an anti-doping test, which he was later acquitted of.[15]

On 10 September 2015, after his contract with Benfica ended, Airton signed a one-season deal with Botafogo.[16]

Club statistics

As of 24 December 2014[17][18]
Club Season League Cup Regional League Continental Other[nb 1] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Flamengo 2008 16 0 1 0 0 0 17 0
2009 30 0 6 0 14 0 2 0 52 0
Total 46 0 6 0 15 0 2 0 69 0
Benfica 2009–10 4 0 1 0 1 0 6 0
2010–11 15 0 4 0 4 0 4 0 27 0
Total 19 0 4 0 5 0 5 0 33 0
Flamengo 2011 18 0 2 0 20 0
2012 13 1 3 0 2 0 18 1
Total 31 1 3 0 4 0 38 1
Internacional 2013 13 0 5 0 9 1 27 1
Total 13 0 5 0 9 1 27 1
Botafogo 2014 24 0 8 0 1 0 33 0
Total 24 0 0 0 8 0 1 0 33 0
Career total 133 1 15 0 35 1 12 0 5 0 200 2

Honours

Flamengo

Benfica

Internacional

Individual

Notes

  1. ^ Includes other competitive competitions, including the Supertaça and Taça da Liga

References

  1. ^ "Em 11 jogos, Aírton pega o vasco pela terceira vez". maumauexterminador.blogspot.pt. 18 October 2008.
  2. ^ "Clube da Espanha procura Aírton, mas Fla tem prioridade para mantê-lo". Globoesporte. 7 August 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  3. ^ "No primeiro 'Clássico dos Milhões' da era Dinamite, Vasco duela com o líder Fla". Globoesporte. 12 July 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  4. ^ Volante Airton fecha com o Benfica, afirma jornal português (Portuguese)
  5. ^ Águia assegura negócio de Airton Archived 24 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine (Portuguese)
  6. ^ "OFICIAL: Flamengo anuncia Airton". Maisfutebol.com. 10 June 2011.
  7. ^ Mais experiente, Airton quer conquistar novamente o Brasileirão (Portuguese)
  8. ^ "Benfica: Flamengo já pagou e Airton fica mais um ano". Maisfutebol.com. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Volante Airton será apresentado neste sábado". Internacional official website.
  10. ^ "Airton rende ao Benfica 300 mil euros". Desporto.sapo.pt. 24 February 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Airton emprestado ao Botafogo". Record. 8 January 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  12. ^ "Airton continua no Botafogo". Record. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Botafogo renova com Aírton e está perto de anunciar atacante Rogério". globoesporte. 7 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Airton julgado por agressão e controlo anti-doping irregular". relvado.sapo.pt. 30 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 October 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  15. ^ "Airton é absolvido por unanimidade no STJD em denúncia ligada a doping". Lancenent.br. 1 October 2014. Archived from the original on 21 October 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  16. ^ "Airton assina pelo Botafogo".
  17. ^ "Airton". footballdatabase.eu.
  18. ^ Airton at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
  19. ^ "Ferj divulga seleção do Campeonato Carioca: Fluminense e Vasco dominam indicações". UOL. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Ferj divulga seleção do carioca com cinco jogadores do Flu e dois do Bota". Globoesporte.com. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.