Aston Villa acquire Portuguese ‘keeper Andre Moreira on loan
By Josh Tonti
It’s finally official: Aston Villa have brought 22-year old Atlético Madrid goalkeeper André Moreira to Birmingham on loan.
It took a few days to iron-out the formalities, but Aston Villa have strengthened the goalkeeper position after the loss of Sam Johnstone over the off-season.
André Moreira, 22, arrives from Spanish giants Atlético Madrid. It’s expected Moreira is to be given the chance at competing with Jed Steer for the club’s No. 1 shirt. Moreira could be a prime example of Villa’s new hierarchy structure on transfers. Whereby, the club bypasses manager Steve Bruce in favor of talent identifiers like Jorge Mendes. Instead of Bruce having what perhaps would be the final say, he’ll get a puzzle of talented pieces, and be asked to form the picture (promotion).
It’s a big task from the new owners at NSWE. Moreira is the first of hopefully several new signings. With Mendes, Villa can replicate Wolves’ plan of adding young talent desperately in need of game time under loan deals with an option-to-buy.
Moreira fits the bill:
A little about Moreira’s background:
Despite being at Atléti for four years, Moreira has yet to make his debut with Los Rojblancos. He’s spent time on four different loan spells for three separate clubs. In 2015/2016, Moreira started 19 league matches in Portugal’s top flight for União. The club finished 17th out of 18 teams that year. The following season he returned to Madrid to serve as an emergency reserve ‘keeper, splitting time with Belenenses, where he did not feature. In January 2018, Moreira returned to Belenenses in Portugal played in 10 league matches from February to April.
Moreira and his defense conceded 12 goals in those 10 matches. The way they conceded, however, was very interesting. Moreira conceded five against Aves in his debut, didn’t give-up a goal in five straight matches (including a clean sheet against Porto), saw a 1-1 draw, gave-up four to Porto, then ended the season with one goal apiece to Pacos de Ferreira and Braga.
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Physically, Moreira is a tall ‘keeper, approximately 6’5″ in height. He’s a former Portugal youth international, featuring heavily from the under-19 to under-21 level. He helped Portugal to the quarter-finals of the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing in every match.
I believe Jed Steer will have the opportunity to lose the No. 1 shirt, but Moreira could make the position his with any slip-up or injury.