On the Guilherme Track

With Miguelito's sale to Braga in it's closing phases, Benfica sees themselves with 1 left defender in the squad. Gilberto's deal seems to have fallen through the cracks, at least for this January, Benfica is left in a delicate situation. Certainly 1 left back is not enough, especially, when the left back you have, and a mighty good one, is 32. I'm pretty sure Maxi can play left back, last resort Luis Felipe, but Benfica will have to buy a left back as soon as the window opens.

The Left Back seems like a rare breed, the national team has recently had problems adding depth to the position. Benfica has had their own problems over the years finding the right man for the job. They seem to have found the right man in Leo, but between failed contract renewals and family problems, Leo seems to be headed down the unsettled path. The fans are starting to criticize Benfica's directive for not resolving the situation, expressing support for Leo, but the truth is - If you are not on the inside, you really don't know what is going on. Unfortunately some of the public knowledge comes from what the media feeds you, which sometimes can be very far from the truth.

I've been following Guilherme, a left back from Brazil, i first posted about him here . Just a quick background, Guilherme is a 19 year left back that broke into Vasco da Gama's first squad this season, even winning the starting left back job towards the end of the campaign. In the middle of November Guilherme's pass was bought by MDF, a sports investment group and Guilherme's future seemed to pass through Portugal.

Just this past week the player was signed by Tombense (Brazilian II Division), the player will not play for Tombense this season, however, one of Tombense's biggest supporters is the agent Eduardo Uram, who currently represents Porto's Ibson(currently on loan with Fluminense) and Espanhol's Jonatas. According to the news article the player's agent is currently studying several offers from undisclosed clubs, but his destiny will most likely be Portugal.
By signing with Tombense, the player associates himself with a club and loses his sole affiliation with just the investment group(at least on paper), Investment groups are often frowned upon by FIFA and they are even unlawful in England(Tevez case).

I'm sure this is not the last we've heard from Guilherme. As i've said before, it wouldn't surprise me if this player ended up at Benfica, especially with Benfica's current situation.