Pelé started playing at the youth teams of Boavista FC, then switched to S.C. Salgueiros also in his hometown of Porto. The financial crisis of the latter club eventually led to the administrative descent to the second division; subsequently, the prohibition of signing professional players led to almost every player in the squad leaving. In the 2004–05 season, Salgueiros' senior squad was constituted primarily of 16 and 17-year-old youth players, including Pelé. Despite winning only one game and drawing other two games during the entire campaign, his performances caught attention. Along with teammate Joel, Pelé signed for S.L. Benfica in a controversial free transfer, as the players were to move to Boavista which was willing to financially help Salgueiros. Instead, Benfica signed the players and the Paranhos side didn't receive any compensation.
Professional
Pelé joined Benfica B for 2005–06, but did not manage to play regularly, leaving in December 2005 to sign for Vitória S.C. in Guimarães. At start of the following campaign, with the club playing in the second level for the first time in decades, he was a regular on the first team, but a poor start for the team and a managerial change led him to the bench more often, as he finished the season with 11 league appearances and Guimarães achieved promotion to the Primeira Liga. Pelé was signed by Inter Milan in August 2007 for €1.5 million, penning a five-year contract. He played his first official match against U.C. Sampdoria on 26 September, in the Serie A, and made his first start against S.S. Lazio on 5 December, due to midfielders Patrick Vieira, Dejan Stanković, Luís Figo and Olivier Dacourt all being unavailable because of injuries. Pelé scored his first goal for Inter on 7 May 2008, in a 2–0 away win over Lazio for the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia. He also found the net in the decisive match against A.S. Roma – from a brilliant long-range volley – but in a 1–2 defeat. On the last day of the 2007 summer transfer window, Pelé was transferred to FC Porto in an exchange involving Ricardo Quaresma and cash €18.6 million – Pelé himself was tagged as €6M. On 26 January 2009, however, after playing almost no part in Jesualdo Ferreira's plans during the season, he was transferred to Portsmouth in the Premier League on a season-long deal with option to buy at the end. On 10 June 2009, after no appearances for Pompey, Pelé returned to Italy, having a medical check at Genoa C.F.C. to finalize the transfer, but the deal fell through. On 20 July he was loaned out to Spain's Real Valladolid on a season-long loan, with a buyout clause to make the move permanent; after slow beginnings, he eventually finished as a starter due to injury to incumbent Álvaro Rubio, but the Castile and León side was relegated from La Liga after a three-year stay. In July 2010, Pelé moved to Eskisehirspor in the Turkish Süper Lig, on a three-year contract. He moved teams and countries again after it expired, joining Ergotelis F.C. from Greece for two years. On 30 December 2013, Pelé agreed to a three-and-a-half-year deal with fellow Superleague Greece side Olympiacos FC. Late into the January 2015 transfer window, after only nine competitive appearances, he was loaned to Levadiakos F.C. also in the country's top flight. On 31 August 2015, Pelé was released by Olympiakos and signed a two-year contract with Anorthosis Famagusta FC for an undisclosed fee. On 23 July 2018, after one year without a club, the 30-year-old joined AFC Eskilstuna in the Swedish Superettan, leaving at the end of the year with no appearances to his credit and meeting the same fate at his next team, Romania's FC Dunărea Călărași, due to a heart condition that was detected in his medical.
