PORTUGAL | STAR
New York Red Bull promise Bento Estrela heading to Portugal?
According to reports, the New York Red Bull midfielder has agreed to join Rúben Amorim’s Sporting Clube de Portugal.
Lisbon side Sporting Clube are close to finalising the signing of a promising young American midfielder. According to The Athletic, Rúben Amorim’s team has agreed to sign New York Red Bulls defensive midfielder Bento Estrela.
The source indicates that the player, who turned 18 years old in February, will arrive in Portugal for zero cost, but the New York team will reserve a percentage cut of any future sale to a third party.
Estrela yet to make MLS debut
Estrela’s transfer to Sporting is expected to close early this week. Signed in 2021 when he was just 14 years and 364 days old, the youngest professional contract in the history of the New York club, the midfielder has not yet made his official debut in the MLS, but his projection indicated that he would play his first minutes this season.
The teenager made a total of 18 appearances in the MLS Next Pro last season - 13 of them in the starting XI. Head coach Sandro Schwarz regularly included him in his first team list - Estrela watched 15 top flight games from the bench.
This summer, he has been linked with moves to Porto and Benfica, two of the Primeira Liga big three clubs. But in the end Amorim’s determination to sign him proved to be a decisive factor. At the moment, it is not known whether he will be registered with the first team or if he will spend his first season with the reserve team.
Born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and a youth international with the United States U-17s, Estrela will not occupy a non-EU space as technically, he is a Portuguese national. He could elect to represent either Portugal or the USMNT at a future date.
Sporting Clube have had a busy summer, having already closed the signings of Sean Petrie, Anisse Saidi and Lewis Dayley, all U-20 internationals.