A tweet late last night suggested that new Whitecaps Masato Kudo’s former teammate at Kashiwa Reysol, Brazilian Cristiano da Silva’s contract had not been renewed at Kashiwa Reysol.
Cristiano was on loan from his former club Ventforet Korfu in the J League (which is incidentally chock-full of Brazilian players) and did not have his stay extended (presumably due Reysol not wanting or not willing to pay his transfer fee). The 28-year-old Cristiano is an attack minded midfielder (left winger mainly but can play striker and right wing) reminiscent of another Brazilian who once plied his trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps (and who shall not be named). He recently scored a hat trick on free kicks near the end of last season has a more than decent strike rate for a winger (14 goals in 34 games).
Cristiano is on a much smaller ticket than Masato Kudo and depending on his transfer fee could he be worth a flyer? Could the Whitecaps be looking to dip from the J League once again and unite Kudo with a former teammate in the MLS for the upcoming season? Was Masato Kudo the only Japanese player that Whitecaps Coach Martyn Pert scouted on his recent trip to Japan? Did Cristiano also catch Martyn Pert’s eye while he was scouting Kudo?
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