Jose Ramirez Barreto (born September 3, 1976 in Porto Alegre) is a Brazilian football player who is currently playing for his second period with the Indian football club Mohun Bagan Athletic Club.He actually plays as withdrawal forward or playmaker but also can play as striker and midfielder. In the current season 2009–10, his role in his club is as a striker.

He was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil in a family consisting of his parents, his brother and his sister. He left home at an early age of 15 years to play football in the capital. From 15 to 22, he developed his career at the academy at Gremio. He had played under Luiz Felipe Scolari, when Scolari was the coach of the senior team in the academy, he was 18 then.

Before joining his present team, Mohun Bagan AC, he spent a few years in Japan.

He joined Mohun Bagan AC in 1999 and spent a successful period of five seasons with the club, before leaving in 2004, apparently unhappy with how the club was being managed by "dishonest sports administrators"..

However, despite popular speculation that he was heading back to his native Brazil, Barreto signed with Penang FA and played in the Super League Malaysia. His first year in Penang FA was a tremendous success, although Penang FA failed to win any silverware, he was dubbed as "the best foreign player" by spectators and pundits alike. His ability to command the midfield coupled with good scoring records had somewhat elavated his status in Malaysian football scene.

He was honoured as the club captain during his second season – a rather rare honour for foreign players in Malaysian football. As a result, he was nicknamed "Kapitan" by the Penang FA fans, loosely meaning "The Chief". Although he continued to show superb performances throughout the campaign, the inability of Penang FA to win any silverware for the second successive year has made him frustrated. Rumours were rife before the Malaysia Cup quarter final match against Selangor FA that he would leave the club if Penang FA failed to win the tournament. Penang FA lost the quarter final with a 2–3 aggregate and just a week later the fear was realised – Barreto moved back to India with Mahindra United.

In June 2006, he switched from Mahindra United back to Mohun Bagan AC for an Indian football record transfer fee. Since 2006, Barreto has stayed with the club he has fallen in love with and the supporters who consider him nothing less than a God, who has the ability to save them from any situaition. He is return to Mohun Bagan was honoured by the club officials by naming him captain for the season. In 2010 he achieved the unique feat of scoring 200 goals for Mohun Bagan, the only player in Indian football history to achieve this feat with one club. The record was achieved after a hattrick against Chirag United in an i-League game. Barreto scored 200 goals in 324 games.

Barreto is widely considered as the finest foreign player to have played in India. He has become a model footballer with his performance on & off the pitch. His skill, finishing, leadership & ability to come down in defense to help, coupled with humble nature, has endeared him to thousands of football fans, irrespective of the club they support. The Mohun Bagan fans have a popular chant : Sheet, Grishma, Borsha; Barretoi Bhorsa (meaning : Whether it's winter, summer or monsoon, Barreto will always be the rescuer).

In 2008, on flight back to Brazil after the season ended, Barreto was detained by the Forex Dept. on charges of carrying excess cash than what he had accounted for.

He is set to launch his own football academy in Goa, India. It will be known as Brasil Futebol Academia with operations starting in February 2009. He has also promised that he would open another Academy in the east, near Kolkata at Agarpara.