The Bundesliga's best Brazilian footballers

Leverkusen’s €20m capture of Paulinho is seen as something of a coup, given the caliber of clubs also linked with the 17-year old. The first player born after 2000 to score in the Copa Libertadores, the Vasco De Gama wonderkid joins Bayer this summer on a four-year deal. He’s already a superstar back home, but will he live up to hype in Germany?

With 336 league appearances, the hard-working, versatile and stylish midfielder is the joint second-highest foreign appearance maker in the Bundesliga. After a brief spell at Real Madrid, Leverkusen brought him back to Europe before he moved to Munich for the first of two spells. He finally retired last year at the age of 42 with four Bundesliga titles and four German Cups among his personal haul.

Now a crucial cog in Liverpool's devastating attacking machine, Firmino moved to Germany as a 19-year-old in 2011. Along with the likes of Sebastian Rudy, Kevin Volland and Niklas Süle, Firmino improved rapidly as Hoffenheim began to establish themselves in the Bundesliga. His development has accelerated under Jürgen Klopp at Liverpool where he has a chance to win the Champions League this year.

The World Cup winning defender was part of the infamous Leverkusen ‘horror treble’ side that missed out on the Bundesliga title, German Cup and Champions League in their final three games of the season. A move to Bayern Munich proved more successful, as he claimed three Bundesliga medals and a German Cup triumph during a four year stint.

The defensive midfielder boasts the likes of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Roma and Juventus among former employers, but it was at Leverkusen that he made his name. His tough tackling and peerless reading of the game made him a star in the Bundesliga and, remarkably, the 42 year old still hasn’t hung up his boots.

The wingback was never highly rated in his native land, collecting only one cap for the Selecao, but he achieved legendary status in Dortmund. Arriving in Germany aged 20, back in 1998, Dede would go on to make over 400 Bundesliga appearances for BVB, winning two Bundesliga titles under Jürgen Klopp.

The prolific poacher was recently overtaken as Bayern’s all-time top foreign goalscorer by Robert Lewandowski, after a trophy-laden spell with the club between 1997 and 2003. Elber’s 140 Bayern goals came at a rate of one every 143 minutes. Often featuring in a little and large duo with the towering Carsten Jancker, Elber picked up four Bundesligas, three German Cups and a Champions League.

A graceful attacking midfielder, Diego joined Bremen from Porto for €6 million, a substantial sum in 2006. He was an instant hit, winning player of the season and goal of the season as Bremen finished third. A fan favorite, he continued to produce to such an extent that Italian giants Juventus shelled out €24.5 million for him in 2009. He joined Wolfsburg in 2010 but never hit the same heights.

One half of the most prolific strike partnership in Bundesliga history. With 28 goals in 25 games, Grafite’s goalscoring antics fired Wolfsburg to a first ever Bundesliga crown in 2009. Edin Dzeko weighed in with 26 goals of his own but the Brazilian bagged Golden Boot and Player of the Year prizes as the star of Felix Magath’s unlikely title winners.

The tough-tackling mustachioed midfielder was a part of the Bayern Munich side that won the treble under Jupp Heynckes in 2012/13 before becoming surplus to requirements in the change of style instigated by Pep Guardiola. After joining Wolfsburg, he was a key component the Brazilian World Cup side that were embarrassingly eliminated 7-1 by Germany in the semifinal of their home tournament.

After getting off to a slow start, Ailton would become a legend in the Bundesliga. The first non-German to win the German Player of the Year award, the striker’s goals fired Werder Bremen to an unlikely league title triumph in 2004. He would go on to play for Schalke, Hamburg and Duisburg before leaving German football behind for good in 2008.

The 35-year-old is enjoying an Indian Summer at Schalke under Domenico Tedesco, capped by a famous headed equalizer in the 4-4 draw with Borussia Dortmund earlier this season. The giant center back won his last cap for Brazil in 2009 during a seven year stint at Bremen that included an unlikely hat-trick in 2006. He may still hold hopes of an even more unlikely call up to Russia 2018.