Jonathas Cristian de Jesus, simply known as Jonathas, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Spanish club Elche CF as a forward. In his career, he played top-flight football in his own country, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Russia and Germany. He recorded figures of 61 games and 21 goals in La Liga for Elche and Real Sociedad, and three goals in 29 Serie A matches for Brescia, Pescara and Torino.
Club career
Early career
Jonathas played in Cruzeiro's youth teams and a few times in the senior team. He was also loaned out to Ipatinga and Villa Nova. In October 2008 he was signed by Dutch Eredivisie champions, AZ Alkmaar. Cruzeiro announced that AZ bought 65% player's rights for €600,000 and the Brazilian club retained the rest. Jonathas made his debut for AZ on 28 October 2009, in the KNVB Cup match against Spakenburg, scoring in a 5–2 away win. On 21 November, he played his first league game away to Roda JC, and scored in a 4–2 win before being sent off for hitting an opponent with his arm. On 1 February 2011, Jonathas moved teams and countries again, joining Brescia Calcio in a one-and-a-half-year contract for and undisclosed fee, rumoured to be €300,000. He appeared in six matches during his debut campaign, as the Biancoazzurri were relegated from Serie A. He scored 16 goals in the 2011–12 Serie B, the team's top scorer.
Pescara
On 31 July 2012, newly promoted Serie A side Pescara announced that they had signed Jonathas for an undisclosed fee. He played his first match on 26 August in a 0–3 loss to Inter Milan, and scored his first goal on 6 January of the following year, in a 2–0 win at Fiorentina. On 31 January 2013 Jonathas moved to Torino on loan until June, with a buyout clause. On 29 August he joined Latina in a permanent one-year deal. After scoring 15 goals with Latina, Jonathas returned to Pescara. Immediately after returning to Pescara, Jonathas was loaned to Elche CF in La Liga, for two seasons. He made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 24 August 2014, starting in a 0–3 loss at FC Barcelona. Jonathas scored his first goal in the category on 14 September 2014, netting his side's second in a 3–2 away win against Rayo Vallecano. On 2 November, he scored Elche's goals in a 2–1 home win against RCD Espanyol, taking his tally up to five. On 20 April 2015, after scoring the winner in a home success against Real Sociedad, Jonathas became the first player of the Valencians to score 10 goals in a La Liga campaign since 1977–78.
Real Sociedad
On 27 July 2015, Jonathas moved to fellow league team Real Sociedad, after agreeing to a five-year deal. He scored seven times in his only season in San Sebastián, including braces in wins against Valencia and RCD Espanyol at the start of the new year. Jonathas was sent off on 18 October 2015 at the end of a 2–0 loss to Atlético Madrid at the Anoeta Stadium, joining teammate Diego Reyes in expulsion.
On 22 August 2017, Jonathas signed a three-year contract with the German club Hannover 96. Five days later he scored on his debut, the only goal of a home win over FC Schalke 04. On 29 June 2018, he joined Brazilian club Corinthians on a year-long deal. He played nine total games, and scored a late consolation on 22 July at the end of a 3–1 loss away to city rivals São Paulo FC. Corinthians terminated the loan on 15 January 2019. On 4 May 2019, Jonathas came on as a half-time substitute for Hendrik Weydandt for relegation-threatened Hannover away to leaders FC Bayern Munich. In his ten-minute cameo, he scored a penalty given by the video assistant referee, and was sent off for two yellow cards. His contract was terminated on 31 August that year.
