NorthEast United FC to sign former Benfica midfielder to replace Adilson

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Bengaluru, December 28: Indian Super League side NorthEast United FC have had a poor start to their campaign as they have managed four points from six matches and now adding more salt to their wounds they have lost star midfielder Adilson through injury.

Adilson, one of the big names of Portuguese side Arouca, signed for the John Abraham co-owned team on the transfer deadline day and has made four appearances, while his last match was against Bengaluru FC in the 1-0 defeat.

After the match, the star midfielder suffered a serious injury and had to rush to Brazil for further analysis and it has now emerged that the problem is very serious which made the Indian Super League side terminate his contract.

And as per reports, to fill his void the Highlanders now have targeted 33-year-old veteran Portuguese midfielder and former Benfica academy graduate Helio Pinto.

Pinto, who came through the youth ranks of Benfica is a household name in the Cyprus League where he spent Seven years with Cyprus giants APOEL. He made over 250 appearances for the Popular European side and won four domestic league titles, one Cypriot Cup and three Super Cups with them, establishing himself as one of the club legends.

He left the Cyprus club in 2013 and later moved to Polish club Legia Warsaw and Qatar league. But for the last two years, his demand dropped down hugely and he had to settle for lower leagues in Norway and Greece.

He is currently contracted with Norway club Kongsvinger which last until December and is yet to make an appearance for them this year.

And as per reports, North East are ready to take the advantage of the situation and ready to pounce on the player who will be available in January as a free agent.

North East are currently at the bottom in the league table and will travel to Pune to take on Ranko Popovic’s side on Saturday (December 30).