Valour FC lands veteran Brazilian midfielder

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This article was published 03/06/2021 (1586 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Earlier this week, Rob Gale teased that Valour FC was getting set to announce a major signing.

It turns out Gale, the head coach and general manager of Winnipeg’s professional soccer club, didn’t disappoint.

The team revealed on Thursday that Brazilian midfielder Rafael Galhardo is the newest member of Valour FC.

Galhardo, 29, is one of the biggest signings in franchise history as his résumé boasts 11 seasons in Brazil’s top-flight professional league. He most recently played in 2019 for Grêmio Foot-Ball Porto Alegrense (Brazilian Championship A Series) where he found the back of the net twice and added three assists in 1,179 minutes over 16 appearances. A contract dispute kept Galhardo out of action in 2020.

He also has nine caps for Brazil’s under-20 national team and helped them win the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Columbia.

“We don’t want to overstate his pedigree. As Rob has said, we want to let his football do the talking,” said Valour assistant coach Damian Rocke, who did most of the scouting on Galhardo.

“He’s obviously going to bring a wealth of experience and we need to make the next step as a club. We’ve progressed from Year 1 to Year 2 and we hope bringing in a player like Rafael is really a statement that we’re here to compete. Where we’ve struggled in the past is really generating consistent scoring opportunities and consistently threatening the opposition and we hope this is partially a remedy for that.”

Galhardo has quite the journey in front of him to make it to Winnipeg. It’ll take four weeks in total to get here as Brazil is on the no-fly list for Canada and the United States. His trip includes a stop in Mexico where he’ll have to quarantine before he can fly to Toronto to quarantine for several days. Valour expects Galhardo will officially land in Winnipeg in mid-June and where he’ll have to quarantine for two more weeks before he can finally join his new team. The season is expected to start later this month.

“In this particular case, we were able find something that worked for both parties and we’re obviously happy that he’s decided to come,” Rocke said. “I would leave it to Rafael to describe what it means to him and his career, but it’s an opportunity to obviously live in Canada, experience North America and experience something different.”

Galhardo doesn’t speak English so without a Portuguese translator, it’ll be a bit of a challenge to find out directly from him why he chose Valour. Rocke said they discovered the player through his agent and did all of their communication through his representation.

“We’ve got a really big Portuguese community here in Winnipeg as well as a growing Brazilian community,” said Rocke.

“We’ve got friends we can rely on to help us out when we need. So, not terribly concerned, but it will take him some time to convert his understanding of English into a better command of the language.”

Valour has signed some high profile players in the past. Prior to the 2020 campaign, the club turned heads by landing defender Arnold Bouka Moutou who played three seasons in France’s Ligue 1 with Dijon and Anger and has suited up for Congo’s senior national team.

But Galhardo has the potential to be their biggest splash yet.

“I’m gonna plead the fifth on that,” Rocke said.

“I think it’s important to let the player come and get settled and let him do his thing. Then, we can come back retroactively and say. Look, he clearly has the CV, but it’s up to him to come in and let his game speak for himself. I know he’s motivated and excited to come in and play and contribute. But he’s got to come in and get his legs back, adjust to the turf, and adjust to the travel. It’s a different brand of football certainly than the Brazilian market.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31