Luis Guilherme’s post-West Ham United glow-up didn’t last long. Sporting Lisbon are still in with a shot at the title, but they will have to chase down Porto without him.
Five points adrift of league leaders FC Porto with a game in hand, Rui Borges has lost a joker in his Leoes pack. And at a pretty inopportune moment, too.
Guilherme joined Sporting Lisbon in a £17 million January deal from West Ham United. In the space of just three months, the Brazilian winger started more Primeira Liga matches [6] than he managed in a season-and-a-half under three different managers at the London Stadium [2].
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Luis Guilherme, though, will be waiting a while for Primeira Liga start number seven.
Ex-West Ham United winger Luis Guilherme deals Sporting Lisbon an injury blow
A Bola report that the former Palmeiras prospect is still not training with the rest of the Sporting squad after spraining his ankle in March. Therefore, he will be unavailable for Saturday’s trip to Estrela da Amadora.
Head coach Rui Borges is confident that Guilherme will feature again before the final day, potentially title-deciding clash with Gil Vicente on May 16th. But a forward snapped up in the hope of helping Sporting overhaul Porto at the summit may be fighting a losing battle as he looks to regain full match sharpness before the end.
“We hope and strongly believe [Guilherme] will return this season,” an optimistic Borges said during a press conference.
“I can’t say exactly when, but I believe so.”
Only time will tell if Borges’ confidence proves to be misplaced.
Guilherme’s injury is ‘worrying’ for the Portuguese giants
Guilherme just can’t catch a break.
The feeling from Brazil is that West Ham wasted Guilherme’s potential. The occasional first-team outing saw him positioned on the left-hand side, rather than the right-sided role in which he made his name as one of the most promising talents in South America.
The logic of West Ham spending £25 million on a teenage right-winger who needed regular minutes to develop, when they already had Jarrod Bowen, has understandably been called into question.
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In Portugal, though, Guilherme had made a ‘superb’ start to Sporting life. Just when he was starting to hit his stride, scoring a first goal in European football during a cup victory over Avis, the 20-year-old was struck down by an injury both he and his title-chasing club could have done without.
“Luis Guilherme is one of the most worrying cases,” writes Lisbon-based publication Leonino. “The Brazilian winger, who was injured in mid-March before the [Champions League] match against Bodo/Glimt, was initially expected to be sidelined for four to six weeks.
“However, the problem proved to be more serious than expected. At the moment, there is still no definite date for his return to competition.”
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