José Luís Pinto

Juventude

Zezinho began his football career at Juventude and was promoted to the A team in 2008. On 3 June 2009, he made his first team debut in a 1–0 home loss against Paraná, coming on as a second-half substitute, replacing Edimar. Two weeks later, Zezinho was sent off for first time in his senior career, during a game against Bragantino. On 5 August, he scored his first goal for Juventude against Portuguesa. Zezinho then scored in Juventude's 2–0 win over Fortaleza on 19 September 2009, taking his tally for the season to 2 goals. He earned 21 Série B appearances.

Santos (loan)

On 10 February 2010, Zezinho was loaned out to Série A club Santos. He was assigned the number 8 shirt. Zezinho made his competitive début for Santos in the Campeonato Paulista on 8 April 2010, starting alongside Zé Eduardo in attack in Santos's 4–2 victory over Sertãozinho. On 6 June, in a Série A match against Vasco da Gama, he assisted Madson for the fourth goal as Santos cruised to a 4–0 win. Then Zezinho transferred to Deportivo Maldonado on 18 August 2010, and immediately rejoined Santos on a loan deal until December 2011.

Bahia (loan)

On 30 December 2010, Bahia announced they had reached agreement for the loan of Zezinho to the club for the 2011 season. Few days later his loan contract with Santos was terminated by mutual consent. He made only one appearance for the club in Série A until he requested the termination of his contract with Bahia in November 2011.