Igor Thiago Nascimento Rodrigues (born 26 June 2001), known as Igor Thiago or just Thiago, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Brentford.
Born in Gama, a small city close to capital Brasília, Thiago was 13 years old when he lost his father, and supported his street-cleaner mother María Diva by working in construction as a bricklayer, odd-jobbing at fairs, and by handing out flyers.[2]
He did not consider a career in football, but began playing at Gremio Ocidental, where his brother was already a player. He started playing futsal and had trials at several teams before joining the under-17 team of Verê, from the interior of Paraná. He later joined Cruzeiro's academy.[3]
On 22 January 2020, Thiago made his professional debut as an 18-year-old when he started for Cruzeiro in their Campeonato Mineiro match against Boa Esporte.[4]
Despite being in the first-team squad for two years, Thiago did not play for Cruzeiro in Brazil's Série A, with his 64 appearances instead coming in Série B, the Mineiro and the Copa do Brasil.[5][3]
After a series of rumours, on 2 March 2022, Thiago finally signed with the Bulgarian champions Ludogorets Razgrad.[6] He joined Ludogorets II to adapt better in the Bulgarian league and made his debut on 18 April in a league match against Litex Lovech, scoring his debut goal.[7] A week later, he scored a brace in a 3–2 away defeat against Dobrudzha Dobrich.[8]
Thiago's good start for the second team granted him a call-up to the first team where he made his debut in a league match against CSKA Sofia, coming on as a substitute and marking his debut for the first team with a goal.[9]
With Ludogorets, Thiago won back-to-back Bulgarian First League titles for 2021–22 and 2022–23, as well as the 2023 Bulgarian Cup and 2022 Bulgarian Supercup, contributing to the club's success with 21 goals in 55 games.[citation needed]
On 12 June 2023, Thiago signed for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge on a four-year contract.[10] The €7.9 million fee received by Ludogorets was a record for a Bulgarian club.[11]
Having started in a 3–0 win over Aarhus in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers on 27 July 2023, Thiago scored in his first two league games for Club Brugge, a late equaliser to earn a 1–1 draw against Mechelen,[12] then netting the only goal in a 1–0 win at Westerlo to put the club near the top of the table early in the season.[13]
Scoring the opening goal in a 4–2 win over Charleroi on 16 September 2023 saw him reach six goals in all competitions,[14] but Thiago didn't score in Club's next nine games, finally breaking his duck in a 6–0 Belgian Cup victory at Beerschot on 1 November.[15] However, there were no more league goals until December of that year.
Netting a double in a 5–0 away win over Beşiktaş in the Conference League sparked a major goalscoring run from the Brazilian striker,[16] going on to fire 18 goals in his next 12 games across December 2023 and January 2024. Thiago was only shut out in one of those matches, against Mechelen where a header he scored was erroneously ruled out for offside.[17][18] After that blank, Thiago scored in his next eight games.[19]
On 14 February 2024, Premier League club Brentford announced an agreement for the signing of Thiago on a five-year deal, which would come into effect on 1 July.[20] The fee was undisclosed by the club, but reported to be in the region of a club-record £30 million.[21] In Belgian terms, this was a new Pro League record sale of €38 million.[22]
On 20 July 2024, Thiago suffered a meniscus injury on his Brentford debut in a pre-season friendly, and was subsequently expected to be out of action for the remainder of the year.[23] However, on 23 November, Thiago made his first appearance for the club against Everton, when he replaced Yoane Wissa in the 72nd minute.[24] Despite the brief return, he missed most of the remaining season, only making his return on 4 May 2025 in Brentford's 4–3 home victory against Manchester United in the league.[25]
On 17 August 2025, Thiago scored his first goal for Brentford in a 3–1 away defeat against Nottingham Forest in the club's opening game of the Premier League season.[26]
Born in Brazil, Thiago received a Bulgarian passport in 2023, which made him available to play for both Brazil and Bulgaria.[27][28] In January 2024 he received a call-up for Brazil U23, but declined it, despite the fact he said it would be a dream to represent Brazil on international level.[29]
| Club | Season | League | State league[a] | National cup[b] | League cup[c] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cruzeiro | 2020 | Série B | 18 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 | ||
| 2021 | Série B | 25 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 29 | 4 | |||
| 2022 | Série B | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | |||
| Total | 43 | 4 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 10 | |||
| Ludogorets Razgrad II | 2021–22 | Bulgarian Second League | 4 | 3 | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 3 | |||||
| Ludogorets Razgrad | 2021–22 | Bulgarian First League | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| 2022–23 | Bulgarian First League | 32 | 15 | — | 5 | 1 | — | 15[e] | 4 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 20 | |||
| Total | 34 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | — | 15 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 55 | 21 | |||
| Club Brugge | 2023–24 | Belgian Pro League | 34 | 18 | — | 5 | 4 | — | 16[f] | 7 | — | 55 | 29 | |||
| Brentford | 2024–25 | Premier League | 8 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2025–26 | Premier League | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 4 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 3 | ||
| Career total | 126 | 43 | 17 | 5 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 190 | 66 | ||
Ludogorets Razgrad
Club Brugge
Individual
