Port Vale one hit wonders: number two Carlos Saleiro
In this series we look back at players who only made a solitary appearance for the Valiants. This week we look at striker Carlos Saleiro.
Carlos Saleiro in numbers…
Seen as a key member of Bruno Ribeiro’s “revolution” the signing of Carlos Saleiro actually turned out to be a damp squib.
In 2016, Saleiro was a member of Portuguese club Clube Oriental de Lisboa. It had not been a happy time. Oriental had been rocked with a match fixing scandal and had been relegated. Saleiro himself had netted just five goals and during his twelve year career he had only actually hit double figures once.
So, asking Saleiro to be a regular goal scorer in a foreign country for the Valiants seemed somewhat unlikely. Nevertheless, Saleiro was hailed on social media by then-owner Norman Smurthwaite as a “goal machine” and the club committed to a two-year contract for the 30 year-old.
It turned out to be a disaster for both parties. Saleiro made his debut in the club’s second game of the season, playing 27 minutes as a sub in a poor defeat to Carlisle United. And that turned out to be it for the striker.
Just one week later, the club announced the striker had left by mutual consent, claiming he “found it difficult to adjust to life in the country.” Since then, he apparently hasn’t played a game for any club anywhere, his football career seeming coming to end at Brunton Park in early August.