By SKIP BANDELE Portimão football club brought their total January transfer window signings to five in a last ditch…

Portimão football club brought their total January transfer window signings to five in a last ditch attempt to stave off an immediate return to the Liga de Honra.

Ricardo Nascimento is a tall 23-year-old Brazilian defender hoping to make a name for himself in Portugal. His work among the back four will hopefully be complemented by countrymen Helder Castro (ex-University Cluj, Romania) and Patrick, who scored in practice match against Brondby (ex-Orduspor, Turkey), in midfield and in front of goal respectively.

That trio, together with earlier new arrival Vilas-Boas, became a quintet when Lebanese-born forward Mourad completed the veritable ‘United Nations’ in the western Algarve on Monday evening.

The 28-year-old has played in Italy, Holland and Norway at top club level as well as for his adopted Sweden internationally and is expected to lend a touch of class to the strike force.

On the way out at Portimonense are João Paulo and Fangzhuo while Jumisse has been loaned out to Cypriot club Ermis Aradippou.

Meanwhile, a delay to the laying of new turf has been blamed for Portimão’s Sunday ‘home’ game against Paços de Ferreira (4pm kick-off) being staged once more at the Stadium of the Algarve. Thus the big Algarve derby against Olhanense on Friday February 18 should finally mark the club’s long-awaited return to its own city centre home.

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