A Fulham exit that barely made noise in the summer has turned into one of the most impactful mid-season storylines in Brazil.
Carlos Vinícius, who left Craven Cottage in August and debuted for Grêmio on August 11th, ended the Brasileirão as the club’s top scorer despite playing only 14 matches.
His numbers – 12 goals in the league, finishing as the competition’s joint-sixth top scorer – reshaped Grêmio’s season and restored the striker’s profile after two mixed spells in England.
Vinícius’ final outing of 2025 summed up the transformation. He scored the first two goals in a 4-0 away win against Sport Recife, once again acting as the difference-maker in a team that had spent much of the year looking over its shoulder.
His arrival in the second half of the campaign lifted the attack and gave Grêmio a focal point it lacked. A minor muscle injury interrupted his run, but it barely slowed the trajectory.
In a pre-match interview with Zero Hora, the striker underlined how central his adaptation off the pitch has been. “The truth is that my family are very happy here in Porto Alegre, and that helped a lot after eight or nine years abroad,” he said.
He explained that playing in Brazil had always been a personal ambition: “I always told the people close to me that my career would only feel complete after I played the Brasileirão. My family are happier seeing me here than when I was in the Premier League.”
Vinícius also revealed that Grêmio had tried to sign him two other times while he was under contract with Fulham. Those moves never progressed because the London club were unwilling to release him. “This time it was simpler. I was a free agent, and the deal happened very fast,” he noted.
The numbers behind the post-Fulham resurgence
For context, his scoring record in Brazil surpasses his Premier League output. He scored eight goals in 48 appearances for Fulham across 2022-2024, having previously netted ten in 22 games for Tottenham in 2020/21.
In contrast, his 2025 Grêmio return reads: 12 goals in 14 games, a goal every 86 minutes, and a decisive role in the club’s late-season recovery.
The Brazilian season has closed, but Vinícius leaves it as one of its revelations – and Fulham, watching from afar, will recognise that his most convincing run of form came only after stepping away from London.