Cleiton Ribeiro Xavier is a Brazilian footballer featuring as an attacking midfielder at Metalist Kharkiv. He used to play for Brazil national youth team. Cleiton was born in São José da Tapera, a Brazilian municipality in Alagoas.
Cleiton attended Centro Sportivo Alagoano football academy. He played football there until 2002 when the player joined Internacional, one of the leading Brazilian clubs. The young footballer didn’t manage to get a stable position at Colorados. That is why he joined other Brazilian clubs on loan during the period from 2005 to 2008.
In 2005 Xavier featured for Sport Recife and Brasiliense. In 2006 he played for Gama and Marília. In 2007 and 2008 the footballer appeared for Figueirense where he showed his worth taking the field 61 times and netting 12 goals. Nevertheless the midfielder didn’t manage to gain a regular place at Internacional. In 2009 he moved to Palmeiras fitting in with the team. He spent two successful seasons there: during the years 2009 and 2010 he took part in 88 games and scored 17 goals.
On 15 July 2010 the midfielder officially joined Metalist Kharkiv that paid about €4.5 million for the player. During the first season Cleiton played 26 matches for Yellow-Blues netting 6 goals. By his second season (2011/12) in Ukraine Xavier became a vice-captain and one of the core players of the team. On 16 July 2011 in the second round of the Ukrainian Premier League the Brazilian, wearing the captain’s armband, helped the team to outplay Zorya Luhansk (3-2) scoring the winning goal. During that season Cleiton played 25 matches in the Ukrainian Premier League and scored 10 goals becoming the fourth goal scorer and contributing to winning bronzes by the Kharkiv club. Moreover, the Brazilian midfielder successfully appeared in UEFA Europa League making the quarterfinals.
By the beginning of the 2012/13 season Xavier was one of the most expensive players of Metalist according to a German site Transfermarkt.de going only after Taison. Besides, the Brazilian footballer helped Yellow-Blues to take a good start in the Ukrainian Cup netting three goals in the first eight matches.
In 2003 Cleiton appeared in five international matches for Brazil national U-20 football team that played at the 14th Pan American Games. In 2009 the player was called up to the Brazil national football team to feature in a match against Chile; however he did not participate in the game.
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