OFFICIAL: Ittihad announce signing of ex-Benfica youngster

Egyptian Premier League outfit Ittihad of Alexandria have completed the signing of former Benfica youngster Filipe Nascimento from Polish club Gúrnique Zabrze.

The 29-year-old midfielder has signed a three-year that will keep him in Alexandria until the summer of 2027.

Nascimento joins from Polish club Gúrnique Zabrze for whom he made 21 appearances since joining the club last summer on a free transfer from fellow Ekstraklasa side Radomiáque.

He becomes Ittihad’s 17th summer signing alongside the likes of Al Ahly’s duo Mahmoud Metwally and Mohamed El-Maghraby, Fady Farid, Gebna, Matwan Dawoud, and Abdallah Bakri.

Nascimento will also be the first Portuguese to play in the Egyptian Premier League since Edson Sousa, who had a short spell with Zamalek between 2005 and 2007 after joining from Tottenham.

A product of Benfica’s academy, Nascimento has had spells at Académico de Viseu, Romanian clubs CFR Cluj and FC Dinamo, and Bulgarian giants Levski Sofia, before moving to Poland.

This season, Nascimento has already made six appearances for Zabrze in the Polish league, scoring once at the start of the month in a 3-2 defeat to KS Lécha.

On the international level, Nascimento represented Portugal at U16, U17, and U18 levels and has only one trophy to his name, the 2016 Romanian Cup with CFR Cluj.