During that time, he also played for Brazil eight times and was also in the Selecao World Cup squad in 2002 but injury prevented his participation in the tournament.
In the summer of 2002, Franca took the plunge and moved to Europe to join Bayer. With a transfer fee of around 8.5 million euros, he becomes the most expensive new signing in the club's history. Expectations were high: Franca was expected to revitalise the attack, provide creativity and also prove his qualities in the Bundesliga.
Unforgettable: Franca and Berbatov magic against Bayern
However, his start in Leverkusen proved to be difficult. In his first season, Franca rarely found his best form and often fell short of expectations. He was hardly ever in the starting eleven and only managed one goal. Already labelled as a bad buy, everything changed in the 2003/04 season. Franca really blossomed, scoring 14 Bundesliga goals, setting up loads of others and developing into one of the most eye-catching attacking players in the Bundesliga. Together with Dimitar Berbatov, he formed a dangerous attacking duo and took on a key role in Bayer 04's game. One season later, things continued in the same vein.
On matchday 3, the entire team put in a brilliant performance in a 4-1 home win against FC Bayern, but Dimitar Berbatov and Franca were the main protagonists of this victory with two goals each. But as the first half of the season progressed, the Brazilian was ousted from the starting eleven by new signing Andrej Voronin. And so, after three years at Leverkusen, where he scored 33 goals in 97 matches for the Werkself, Franca decided to move on to Japan to join Kashiwa Reysol.
