Melbourne Victory landed a major coup on Thursday, winning the signature of highly regarded Brazilian striker Ricardinho on a two-year deal.
Melbourne Victory landed a major coup on Thursday, winning the signature of highly regarded Brazilian striker Ricardinho on a two-year deal.
The 26 year-old arrived in Melbourne this morning and after putting pen to paper, was immediately introduced to his new team mates between training sessions at AAMI Park.
Ricardinho (full name Ricardo Weslei de Campelo) enjoyed a successful career in his homeland before moving to South Korea-s Jeju United last year – scoring 5 times – before heading back to Brazil and making 14 appearances for Oeste.
Fantastic on the ball and with great speed, his nickname in Brazil is ‘Rei do drible-, or ‘King of the dribble- which is sure to endear him to the Melbourne Victory faithful.
After making the near 40-hour trip to Melbourne, the clubs new number 9 was understandably drained “Australia is a long way from Brazil, but after I have a sleep I can-t wait to begin training“
“The first thing I noticed when I arrived at the club was all the photo-s of the many championships Melbourne Victory has won and I look forward to contributing to their further success“ he added.
Melbourne Victory Coach Ernie Merrick can-t wait to unleash Ricardinho on the A-League “He-s a very quick and very skilful player who will no doubt prove a real handful“.
“It-s been a long process, but we-ve said all along we wouldn-t be rushed into signing just any old striker – and our patience was rewarded when Ricardinho agreed to come”.
“We think he-ll be the perfect fit for us and we look forward to seeing him in action in the next few weeks” Merrick said.
Ricardinho will train with his new team mates for the first time on Saturday morning.
Ricardinho (Ricardo Weslei de Campelo)
Age: 26.
Height: 1.72m.
Weight: 68 kg-s.
Position: Striker (right-footed).
Previous Clubs:
2003 / 2004
Atletico-PR
2004 / 2005
Marilia
2006 –
Atlectico-PR
Ponte Preta (loan)
Marilia (loan)
2007 –
Fortaleza (loan)
2008 –
Vila Nova (loan)
Ipatinga (loan)
Parana (loan)
2009 / 2010
Jeju United (loan)
2010
Oeste
