Born in São Luís, Maranhão, Wanderson joined AFC Ajax's youth setup in 2002, aged eight, as his father was playing for the club. In 2009, again following the father, he joined Beerschot AC. After progressing through the latter's youth setup, he made his first team – and Pro League – debut on 31 October 2012, starting in a 1–3 away loss against Cercle Brugge. Wanderson appeared in six league matches for Beerschot before it was relegated and subsequently declared bankrupt. On 20 June 2013 he signed a two-year deal with Lierse SK, after impressing on a trial. Wanderson made his Lierse debut on 27 July, in a 1–2 home loss against Zulte-Waregem, and scored his first professional goal on 23 November, netting the first in a 4–2 win at Cercle Brugge. In October 2014 he was linked as a target to the likes of Celtic, Swansea City, West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Sunderland and Aston Villa, but none of them made any formal bids for the player. In 2015, after Lierse's relegation, Wanderson failed to appear in the club's pre-season; despite Lierse alleging he was under contract, his father alleged he was a free agent after receiving a FIFA clearance. He subsequently went on a trial at Getafe CF in July, signing a contract with the club. Despite being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B, Wanderson was called up for the pre-season with the main squad, also scoring a goal against Port Vale. He made his La Liga debut on 30 August 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Emi Buendía in a 1–2 home loss against Granada CF.
On 1 July 2016, Wanderson signed a three-year deal with FC Red Bull Salzburg on a free transfer. He scored his first goal on 3 August 2016 in the match against Partizani Tirana in the UEFA Champions League. On 19 December 2016, Red Bull Salzburg announced that Wanderson had retroactively been handed a four-month suspension by FIFA, that would end on 27 February 2017, due to a breach of the transfer terms during his move from Belgian club Lierse to Getafe in the summer of 2015.
Wanderson is the son of former footballer Wamberto, who notably represented Standard Liège and Ajax. His older brother Danilo is also a midfielder, and was also an Ajax youth graduate. He also holds Belgian nationality.
