An in-depth look into the career of our fifth winter recruit, Lincoln Henrique…
Born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Lincoln Henrique Oliveira dos Santos began his career at Grêmio in 2007. Progressing through the club’s youth system to pen his first professional contract in 2014, the former Brazil Under-15 international earned his first caps for Brazil at Under-17 level in November 2014.
Scoring on debut in a 4-0 win over Australia, the then-winger scored again two days later in a 2-2 draw at home to England, before recording an assist on his third cap in a 4-1 win over the USA.
His form internationally and at youth level for Grêmio saw Lincoln make his debut in January 2015 in a 3-0 win over Frederiquense in the Campeonato Gaúcho. Scoring his first senior goal in the Campinense Clube in April 2015 in a 2-0 win at Arena do Grêmio, a month later the winger made his league debut against Ponte Preta, playing 72 minutes in a 3-3 draw.
In his breakout season, the now-26-year-old featured 11 times in four different competitions for the Brazilian side, being an unused substitute in both legs of the Campeonato Gaúcho final, losing 2-1 against Internacional.
In October 2015, Lincoln captained Brazil Under-17s at the 2015 Under-17 World Cup, scoring once and assisting another in a 3-1 win over Guinea in the final group game to help them qualify to the knockout stages, eventually losing in the quarter-finals by Nigeria.
The following campaign saw a return of four goals in 29 appearances for Grêmio, with three of the goals coming in victories over Cruzeiro, Ypiranga and Passo Fundo in the Campeonato Gaúcho. His other goal came in the Copa Libertadores in a 1-1 draw against San Lorenzo in March 2016.
Twenty-one outings and one assist in the 2016 Brazilian season saw the playmaker move on loan to Türkiye to join Çaykur Rizespor on a one-year loan deal. The 26-year-old made his debut for Rizespor as a late substitute in a 4-3 win over Altinordu in September 2017.
While his parent club Grêmio won the 2017 Copa Libertadores, Lincoln helped the Turkish side win the 1. Lig title. Recording two assists in 20 appearances in all competitions, all three of his goals for the club came with a hat-trick in a 5-1 thrashing of Gaziantepspor in March 2018.
Six months later saw the versatile Lincoln move again, this time being loaned to Brazillian Série A team América Mineiro. Making his debut four days after joining in a 2-1 away win over Vasco da Gama, the playmaker only featured three times for the club before only featuring only twice for Grêmio upon his return.
In July 2019, Lincoln moved to Portugal to join Primeira Liga side Santa Clara on a four-year deal. Making his debut in a goalless draw against B-SAD in August 2019, the 26-year-old recorded an assist in his second appearance and first start for the club in a 2-0 win over Moreirense. His first season at the Azoreans saw a return of eight assists and one goal in 34 outings, with his goal coming in a 1-0 away win over FC Famalicão in January 2020.
A return of one goal and five assists in 32 outings for the 2020/21 season helped see Santa Clara enter the Europa Conference League qualification rounds for the 2021/22 campaign. In both legs of the second round, Lincoln recorded a combined three assists in a 5-0 aggregate win over FC Shkupi. Sadly for Lincoln and Santa Clara, they missed out on qualification after losing 3-2 on aggregate against Partizan in the qualifying round.
However, a return of 10 assists and seven goals in 44 outings saw Lincoln earn a €3.5 million move to Turkish Süper Lig giants Fenerbahçe on a four-year deal in July 2022, becoming the first transfer under new manager Jorge Jesus. Making his Fener debut in July 2022 in Champions League second-round qualification against Dynamo Kyiv, Lincoln showed his versatility by playing as a winger, attacking midfield and left-back.
His first two goals for the club came in a 3-0 win over Slovacko in August 2022 in the third-round first-leg qualifying match of the Europa League, assisting the other in a 3-0 win. A cruciate ligament injury restricted Lincoln to 35 appearances in his debut campaign for Fenerbahçe. Scoring two goals and recording eight assists, Lincoln featured in the fifth round and round of 16 as the Yellow Canaries won the Türkiye Kupasi title.
Scoring once and assisting the other on his return from injury 10 months after his ACL injury in a 6-0 thrashing of Adanaspor in the fifth round of the Türkiye Kupasi in January 2024, the next month saw Lincoln loaned back to Brazil to play for Red Bull Bragantino, making his debut in the Copa Libertadores against Rionegro Águilas later in February.
Throughout the 2024 Brazilian season, the 26-year-old scored five goals and recorded four assists in 49 outings for the club in six different competitions, playing in total 2,635 minutes prior to joining the Tigers. He becomes the fifth Brazilian-born player to play for Hull City after Geovanni, Adriano Basso, Evandro and current striker João Pedro.