Former Liverpool U-23 midfielder Toni Silva has signed for Romanian top-flight side FC Astra Giurgiu after leaving Egyptian side Al Ittihad.
The 25-year-old parted ways with Al Ittihad last week after he failed to live to the expectations of the Alexandria-based club.
In seven Egyptian Premier League games, the Guinea Bissau international provided two assists against Al Masry, and his last appearance for the club came on April 2 against Al Ahly.
Silva, who was previously signed with 2016 CAF Champions League winners Mamelodi Sundowns, confirmed the news on his social media accounts, though the club has yet to make an announcement.
“After a good experience in Egypt, here I am back to the European championship to represent this great Astra Club,” read the post as translated from Portuguese.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “I would like to thank the club president Mohamed Mouselhy for the opportunity to make a return to the European Championship.” [/perfectpullquote]
“To the fans of al A- Ittihad Alexandria thank you very much and you will always be in my heart.”
The former Liverpool player spent his youth career at Benfica and Chelsea where he was regarded by some as a brighter prospect than Raheem Sterling.
At Liverpool, he trained with the senior squad alongside Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez, but could not break through.
Since leaving the English Premier League side seven years ago, Silva has played for eight clubs – from Dagenham and Redbridge to Turkish second division side Şanlıurfa SK.
Born in Bissau, Silva moved with his parents to Portugal where he played for Navigators’ under-17 and U-18 squads.
He later switched his nationality to Guinea-Bissau and made debut in a 3-2 victory over Zambia in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in 2016.
For the recently 2019 Africa Cup of Nations which was held in Egypt, Silva managed to make to the final 23-man Guinea-Bissau squad.
He started in his side’s opener against Cameroon, which they lost 2-0, before featuring for 22 minutes in his side’s 2-0 loss to Ghana in the final group-stages game, as Guinea-Bissau finished bottom of Group F without scoring a single goal.
