Tiquinho Soares

Francisco das Chagas Soares dos Santos (born 17 January 1991), known as Soares or Tiquinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Botafogo.

Having started his career in the lower leagues of his homeland, he moved to Portugal aged 23. He played 155 Primeira Liga games for Nacional, Vitória de Guimarães and Porto, scoring 64 goals and winning two league titles with the last of those clubs. After winning the Super League Greece with Olympiacos in 2022, he joined Botafogo in Série A.

Early career
Born in Sousa, Paraíba, but raised in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Soares started his career with Palmeiras FC das Rocas. After impressing with the side he moved to América de Natal in 2009, initially assigned to the youth setup.

Soares made his professional debut for the latter club on 14 August 2010, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 Série B home loss against Vila Nova. He only appeared in one further match in the championship, before being released on 3 September of that year.

Soares subsequently represented Botafogo da Paraíba, Sousa, CSP, Caicó Esporte Clube, Visão Celeste Esporte Clube, Cerâmica, Treze, Veranópolis, Pelotas and Lucena.

Nacional
On 27 January 2015, Soares moved abroad for the first time in his career after signing with Primeira Liga side Nacional, still owned by CSP. He made his debut for the club on 21 February, replacing Lucas João in a 3–1 away loss against Braga.

Soares scored his first goal abroad on 20 April 2015, equalising the 1–1 Madeira derby at Marítimo. The following 20 March, he scored a brace in a 3–2 home win over Vitória de Guimarães.

Vitória Guimarães
On 25 May 2016, Soares signed for Vitória de Guimarães. He made his debut for his new team on 14 August, starting in a 1–0 home loss to Braga, and scored his first goal 12 days later in a 5–3 win against Paços de Ferreira also at the Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, through a penalty.

On 4 November 2016, Soares scored a double in a 2–1 home defeat of former club Nacional. He finished his spell in Minho with 22 official appearances and nine goals.

Porto
On 23 January 2017, Soares signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Porto, with a €40 million clause. His first match took place on 4 February, when he started and netted twice in a 2–1 home victory over Sporting CP.

Soares made his UEFA Champions League debut on 22 February 2017, starting in a 2–0 home loss to Juventus in the round of 16. In his first full season, he scored eight goals from 24 games to help the club to win the national championship after a five-year wait.

Soares was not initially included in the 2018–19 Champions League squad by manager Sérgio Conceição, due to injury. On 18 January 2019, he put three past Chaves in a 4–1 away victory, his tally of 15 over the campaign eventually being the best for Porto and fourth-best in the league. On 25 May he opened the scoring in the final of the Taça de Portugal and also converted his team's first shot in the penalty shootout after the 2–2 draw, but Sporting were victorious; he dedicated his goal to goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who had suffered a heart attack weeks earlier.

On 27 February 2020, Soares was sent off for the first time in his career as the side lost 3–1 at home to Bayer Leverkusen (5–2 aggregate) in the last 32 of the UEFA Europa League, for elbowing Jonathan Tah in the face.

Tianjin TEDA
Soares moved to the Chinese Super League in September 2020, agreeing to a three-year and three-month deal at Tianjin TEDA. The transfer fee was estimated at around €10 million, as was his total salary.

Olympiacos
On 31 May 2021, Soares joined Olympiacos of the Super League Greece on a three-year contract. On 22 September, he scored twice in a 4–1 home win against Apollon Smyrnis. On 22 December, he repeated the feat in the 2–0 defeat of Levadiakos in the round of 16 of the Greek Football Cup, following assists from Mathieu Valbuena.

Botafogo
Soares returned to Brazil in August 2022 after seven years, with the 31-year-old signing for Botafogo. He made his Campeonato Brasileiro Série A debut at the age of 31 on 4 September, starting in a 3–1 win at Fortaleza; thirteen days later he scored his first goal to conclude a 2–0 win over Coritiba at the Estádio Olímpico Nilton Santos. He finished the season with six goals from 14 games, the Glorioso's second top scorer with one behind Erison despite his late arrival.

Honours
Botafogo-PB
 * Copa Paraíba: 2010

CSP
 * Copa Paraíba: 2012

Lucena
 * Campeonato Paraibano Second Division: 2014

Porto
 * Primeira Liga: 2017–18, 2019–20
 * Taça de Portugal: 2019–20
 * Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2018

Olympiacos
 * Super League Greece: 2021–22

Botafogo
 * Taça Rio: 2023, 2024

Individual
 * Copa do Brasil top scorer: 2023
 * Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Player of the Month: April 2023, May 2023, June 2023, July 2023