Birth Date: July 19 1973
Birth Place: Mogeiro
Birth Nation: Brazil
Height: 177cm
Weight: 77Kg
Nationality: Brazilian
Position: Forward
Full Name: Ailton Concalves da Silva
Despite his build (which is definitely a 'few' pounds over the optimum for a sportsman!) he is only the third foreign player ever to of scored over 100 goals in the German Bundesliga.
He began his professional career in Brazil and played for a number of different clubs there before moving to Mexico to play for UANL Tigres.
In 1998 he moved to Germany to join Werder Bremen, where he struggled at first but gradually found his feet. The 2003-4 season saw him scoring 28 goals as Bremen won the League title.
On 1/6/04 he secured a big money move to Schalke 04 but after only one season there he moved on to Turkey, with Besiktas paying 3.5 million Euros to secure his services in July 2005.
Again he struggled badly in a new country and the notoriously fickle Turkish fans turned on him. He was allowed to look for another club in the transfer window but failed and attempted to escape to Brazil but Besiktas' interim manager intercepted him at the airport and took him back to the club.
He made an appearance against his old club Werder Bremen in the Efes Cup and scored a hat-trick, just before securing a loan move back to Germany with Hamburger SV. In only his second game he broke his jaw and missed most of the rest of the season.
Ailton was the first foreign player ever to receive the German Player of the Year award, which he got in 2004.
Hamburg have cut loose veteran striker Ailton after much staff deliberation. "We have had many discussions on the subject, but have come to the conclusion that it's time to move in another direction," stated general manager Dietmar Beiersdorfer. (30/05/06) He returns to Besiktas.
