Igor Thiago

Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues (born 26 June 2001), known as Igor Thiago or just Thiago, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Brentford.

Early life
Born in Gama, a small city close to capital Brasília, Thiago was 13 years old when he lost his father, and supported his street-cleaner mother María Diva by working in construction as a bricklayer, odd-jobbing at fairs, and by handing out flyers.

He did not consider a career in football, but began playing at Gremio Ocidental, where his brother was already a player. He started playing futsal and had trials at several teams before joining the under-17 team of Verê, from the interior of Paraná. He later joined Cruzeiro's academy.

Cruzeiro
On 22 January 2020, Thiago made his professional debut as an 18-year-old when he started for Cruzeiro in their Campeonato Mineiro match against Boa Esporte.

Despite being in the first-team squad for two years, Thiago did not play for Cruzeiro in Brazil's Série A, with his 64 appearances instead coming in Série B, the Mineiro and the Copa do Brasil.

Ludogorets Razgrad
After a series of rumours, on 2 March 2022, Thiago finally signed with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad. He joined the Ludogorets II to adapt better with the Bulgarian team and made his debut for the second team on 18 April in a league match against Litex Lovech, scoring his debut goal in the match. A week later he scored two goals for the second team in the league match against Dobrudzha Dobrich.

His good start for the second team granted him a call-up for the first team where he made his debut in a league match against CSKA Sofia with Igor Thiago coming on as a substitute and scoring his debut goal for the first team as well.

While at Ludogorets, the club won back-to-back Bulgarian First League titles for 2021–22 and 2022–23, plus the 2023 Bulgarian Cup and 2022 Bulgarian Supercup, scoring 21 goals in 55 games.

Club Brugge
On 12 June 2023, Thiago signed for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge on a four-year contract. The €7.9 million fee received by Ludogorets was a record for a Bulgarian club.

Having started in a 3-0 win over Aarhus in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers on 27 July 2023, Thiago scored in his first two league games for Club Brugge, a late equaliser to earn a 1-1 draw against Mechelen, then netting the only goal in a 1-0 win at Westerlo to put the club near the top of the table early in the season.

Scoring the opening goal in a 4-2 win over Charleroi on 16 September 2023 saw him reach six goals in all competitions, but Thiago didn't score in Club's next nine games, finally breaking his duck in a 6-0 Belgian Cup victory at Beerschot on 1 November. However, there were no more league goals until December of that year.

Netting a double in a 5-0 away win over Beşiktaş in the Conference League sparked a major goalscoring run from the Brazilian striker, going on to fire 18 goals in his next 12 games across December 2023 and January 2024. Thiago was only shut out in one of those matches, against Mechelen where a header he scored was erroneously ruled out for offside. After that blank, Thiago scored in his next eight games.

Brentford
On 14 February 2024, Brentford announced an agreement for the signing of Thiago on a five-year deal, to be effective as of 1 July 2024. The fee was undisclosed by the club, but reported to be in the region of a club-record £30 million.

In Belgian terms, this was a new Pro League record sale of €38 million.

Thiago made his debut as a Brentford player in their first pre-season friendly against AFC Wimbledon, where he netted 2 goals in the first half.

International career
Born in Brazil, Igor received a Bulgarian passport in 2023, which made him available to play for both Brazil and Bulgaria. In January 2024 he received a call-up for Brazil U23, but declined it, despite the fact he said it would be a dream to represent Brazil on international level.

Honours
Ludogorets Razgrad
 * Bulgarian First League: 2021–22, 2022–23
 * Bulgarian Supercup: 2022
 * Bulgarian Cup: 2022–23

Club Brugge
 * Belgian Pro League: 2023–24

Individual

 * UEFA Europa Conference League Young Player of the Season: 2023–24