Diego kicked off his youth career with Flamengo.
He went on to represent Brazilian clubs Duque de Caxias and Corinthians Alagoano.
In 2011, the Brazilian moved to Russia to play in the Russian National League representing Nizhny Novgorod where he scored 10 goals in 31 appearances.
A season later, Diego moved to FC Luch-Energiya Vladivostok to join FC Ufa in 2012 where he scored eight goals for the club besides helping the club to move to the top division, the Russian Premier League.