A youth graduate from Bahia, where he arrived in 2009, Talisca made his professional debut against Corinthians on 7 July2013, and scored his first goal in the next match against São Paulo.
On 5 July2014, after his debut season, Talisca moved to Portuguese champions Benfica for a €4.75 million fee, the highest paid for a Bahia player. On 18 July 2014, he scored his first goal for Benfica on his debut in their Taça de Honra semi-final win against Estoril. On 12 September, he scored a hat-trick in an away victory against Vitória de Setúbal. On 27 September, he scored two goals in a row against Estoril in an away win and became the Primeira Liga's top goalscorer with five goals. On 5 October, he scored his sixth goal in Portuguese league and maintained the top scorer lead. On 31 October, he scored his eighth and fourth consecutive goal in Primeira Liga, in a home win against Rio Ave, keeping the top scorer lead. On 4 November 2014, he scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, the only goal of the game to defeat Monaco in the group stage. He described scoring the 82nd-minute goal as the "best feeling" in his life. On 26 January 2016, he netted a hat-trick in a 6–1 win at Moreirense in the Taça da Liga. In the 2015–16 season, Talisca scored Benfica's winning goal in a 2–1 away victory against Zenit Saint Petersburg in the second leg of UEFA Champions League's round of 16, to make the aggregate score 3–1. On 8 May, he sealed the 2–0 away win at Marítimo in the league with a direct free kick.
On 24 August 2016, Talisca joined Turkish club Beşiktaş on a 1+1-year loan deal for a €2 million fee for the first season. Talisca signed a contract worth €1.5 million in the first season plus bonuses. On 13 September, on his return to the Estádio da Luz in a Champions League group game, he scored an added-time free kick to ensure a 1–1 draw.
Guangzhou Evergrande
On 8 June 2018, Talisca was loaned out to Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande for a half year, with the transfer costing €5.8 million. He made his debut for Guangzhou Evergrande as a starter and scored a hat-trick, including a direct free kick, to help his team win 4–0 over Guizhou Hengfeng in the league on 18 July. On 29 July 2018, he scored two goals in his second appearance for Guangzhou in a 5–0 home win over Chongqing Dangdai Lifan. On 26 October 2018, Benfica announced that Talisca had moved permanently to the Chinese club for a transfer fee of €19.2 million.
International career
On 11 November 2014, Talisca was called up by Dunga to the Brazilian national team to replace Lucas Moura in the international fixtures against Turkey and Austria. He was called again by coach Tite in March 2018 to take part in the away friendly fixtures against Russia and Germany. He has yet to make his debut for the senior team, however.
Style of play
He has been nicknamed "Yaya Talisca" in reference to Ivorian midfielder Yaya Touré, but bases his game on that of his compatriot Neymar. He has also been compared to fellow Brazilian Rivaldo.
