Klauss (footballer)

João Klauss de Mello (born 1 March 1997), commonly known as Klauss, is a Brazilian-Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Belgian club Standard Liège, on loan from Hoffenheim.

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Klauss and the second or paternal family name is de Mello.
Klauss
Klauss with LASK Linz in 2020
Personal information
Full name João Klauss de Mello
Date of birth (1997-03-01) 1 March 1997
Place of birth Criciúma, Brazil
Height 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Standard Liège
(on loan from 1899 Hoffenheim)
Youth career
2006–2010 Internacional
2010–2011 Juventude
2011–2016 Grêmio
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017– Hoffenheim II 24 (5)
2018 → HJK Helsinki (loan) 33 (21)
2019–2020 → LASK (loan) 42 (15)
2020– Hoffenheim 4 (0)
2021– → Standard Liège (loan) 0 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 8 September 2020

Early life

João Klauss de Mello was born in Criciúma, Santa Catarina. He began his career with Internacional in Porto Alegre, joining the club at the age of 9. Klauss moved with his mother to Porte Alegre after his parents separated. Both parents supported his football career from early on. At the age of 13, he was released from Internacional's youth program and moved to Juventude in Caxias do Sul. After a year he moved back to Porto Alegre and joined the Grêmio's youth academy.[1]

Club career
Klauss with HJK in 2018

Klauss signed for his first European club in January 2017 when he moved to Hoffenheim in Germany. He initially struggled with the cultural change. He played 17 matches and scored 4 goals for Hoffenheim II in the Regionalliga Südwest. He was loaned to HJK in March 2018.[2] On 8 April, he scored in his debut in the Veikkausliiga against Ilves.

On 8 January 2019, Klauss was loaned out to LASK until 30 June 2020.[3]

Personal life

Born in Brazil, Klauss is of German descent through his father, and Italian descent through his mother. He holds an Italian passport.[4][5]

References
  1. "HJK:n uusi hyökkääjä valitsi jalkapallouran 10-vuotiaana ja juoksi suurkaupungissa ahdistelijoitaan karkuun: "Ajattelin koko ajan, että minusta tulee ammattijalkapalloilija"". Helsingin Sanomat. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. "KLAUSS DE MELLO ON HJK:N UUSI HYÖKKÄÄJÄ". HJK.fi. 15 March 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  3. VERSTÄRKUNG FÜR DEN LASK!, lask.at, 8 January 2019
  4. "Verstärkung für den LASK!". January 8, 2019.
  5. "Klauss will beim LASK nicht nur Deutsch lernen". nachrichten.at.
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