Following one of the lowest-scoring seasons ever, Portimonense were busy adding attacking players to their forward line-up this week.
Ecuadorian 26-year-old striker Ronie Carrillo, who has 11 goals in 19 games for second-placed Liga Pro side El Nacional to his name this year, has signed a long-term contract and is joined by 21-year-old Brazilian Luan Campos and 23-year-old Paulinho, both on loan from América-MG and Denmark’s Viborg respectively, as well as 23-year-old ex-Farense attacker Ângelo Taveira.
Add in the already on-board Fulham talent Sylvester Jasper and ex-Santa Clara new loan arrival Rildo and Portimonense should be able to find the back of the net more frequently than has been the case in recent times.
On the way out are Yago Cariello (€500,000 loan) and Aponza to South Korean clubs Gangwon and Chungnam Asan, Klismahn, now with Santa Clara, and Pedro Sá who has joined newly-promoted Estrela da Amadora.
Meanwhile, Farense have concluded their first signings in the shape of Vizela goalkeeper Luiz Felipe and midfielder Rafael Barbosa from Tondela. Curiously, the now 27-year-old Barbosa saw his loan agreement at Portimonense from Sporting Lisbon terminated with immediate effect at the beginning of the 2018/19 season after getting involved in a physical altercation with Portimonense club president Rodiney Sampaio.
The following pre-season friendlies to be played in the Algarve have been confirmed so far:
Portimonense v Celtic Quinta do Lago July 12 5pm
v Celtic Quinta do Lago July 15 11am
Portimonense v Porto TBD July 19
Portimonense v Sporting Lagos July 25 10am
Farense v Portimonense Faro August 2
Farense v Al Nassr Estádio do Algarve July 14
Farense v Sporting Lagos July 19 (closed doors)
Ronaldo’s club Al Nassr will also take on third division Alverca in Albufeira on July 10, Spain’s Celta de Vigo (July 17) and Benfica (July 20), the latter two in the Stadium of the Algarve. The same venue will host Sporting v Genk (July 19), Benfica v Celta de Vigo (July 21), Porto v Cardiff (July 22) and Sporting v Real Sociedad (July 25).
Furthermore, Vitória de Guimarães will play Middlesbrough on July 8 in Quinta do Lago and Wolverhampton Wanderers on July 9 in Lagos.
Please note, all dates, times and venues are subject to change at short notice.
By SKIP BANDELE
