André Almeida, protégé of Luís Castro, set for reunion in Valencia derby | OneFootball

André Almeida, a standout of Vitória SC’s academy under Luís Castro, is set for a mentor-pupil reunion in the Valencia derby. Almost seven years on, they meet again at the Ciutat de València.

As reported by AS, Castro recalled arriving at Vitória amid a difficult financial situation and leaving the club in healthier shape with academy products spread across Europe, noting Almeida is now at Valencia. He added their programme routinely placed four or five players in every Portugal youth selection, unusual at the time.

Under Castro’s coordination, Domingos André Ribeiro Almeida progressed through Vitória SC from 2012 to 2019, then broke into the first team. Internationally, he featured for Portugal from Under-15 through to Under-21.

The academy project delivered on the pitch and on the balance sheet. Almeida joined Valencia in summer 2022 for eight million euros, while Edmond Tapsoba’s sale to Bayer Leverkusen brought in more than 20 million.

A hometown product regarded as one of his generation’s jewels, Almeida played 79 senior games for Vitória before moving to Spain. At Valencia his talent has been intermittent across four seasons, despite a contract extension in September through 2029, and he has only nine starts this season.

Castro has lived a similar scenario before. Against Elche he also faced Martim Neto, with whom he won the Youth League and the Intercontinental at Benfica.

Source: AS