Giovane Élber

At the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship, Élber scored four in six matches as the under-20s lost to hosts Portugal, on penalties. Due to stiff competition, Élber could not translate his club form to the Brazil national team. In his first year of international play, 1998, he scored six goals in as many games, but would only collect nine more caps in the following three years.

After announcing his retirement, he then returned to Bayern, where he began working for the club as a scout, searching in his country for young talents. As of 2025, he was an ambassador for the club. Élber works as a pundit for German television station Das Erste. He provided expert analysis during the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and reappeared in this capacity during the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Born in Londrina, Paraná, Élber is a youth product of Londrina.

AC Milan

At the age of 18, he signed for AC Milan in 1990, Élber went almost unnoticed during his one-year spell with the Serie A side.

Grasshoppers

Subsequently, he moved to Switzerland Grasshoppers, initially on loan. He immediately started showing displays of offensive talent at his new club, namely in a 1992–93 UEFA Cup tie against Sporting CP where, after a 1–2 home loss, he was influential in the club's 4–3 aggregate win, scoring twice.

VfB Stuttgart

After more than 50 official goals for Grasshoppers, Élber signed with VfB Stuttgart of Germany in the 1994 summer. He scored in his Bundesliga debut, a 2–1 home win against Hamburger SV, and finished his debut season with eight goals, which would be the only campaign he netted in single digits for the following seven years. In the 1996–97 season, Élber netted 20 official goals for Stuttgart, 17 in the league, and three in the cup, including both against Energie Cottbus in the final (2–0 win). At Stuttgart, he formed the so-called magic triangle (German: Magisches Dreieck) with Krassimir Balakov and Fredi Bobic.

Bayern Munich

The following summer, he moved to fellow league team Bayern Munich where, save for one year, he was always crowned the club's top scorer (Carsten Jancker prevented that honour); additionally, he was instrumental in the conquest of four leagues, the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League, scoring in both legs…

He is mostly referred to as Giovane Élber, which is a German variation of his Italian nickname il giovane Élber ("the young Élber").