Chico Lamba. This name may not say anything to you, however, AS Saint-Etienne spent more than six million euros to afford it. An amount after all quite ordinary, but which, on the scale of a Ligue 2 club, represents a rather substantial investment – if we refer to Transfer marketthis is the third biggest arrival in the history of the championship, behind Georges Mikautadze (Metz, 13m) and Lucas Ocampos (Monaco, 13m).
🚨Excl #MerCostassese 🟢🟢
💫 St Étienne completed the arrival of Chico Lamba 🇵🇹, an international holder with Portugal at the Euro Hopes
💰TULATE TO AROUCA The central defender will cost + € 6 million
🎯 Player present in Forez in recent hours pic.twitter.com/3lBripXvAW
– Sébastien Denis (@sebnonda) July 6, 2025
But then, who is Chico Lamba? Passed by the training of CF Benfica, then Sporting CP, the young central defender of 22 years left the Green and White, after the 2023/2024 season -which he spent in the Portuguese third division with team B -, to join Arouca freely. There, he played 26 league games, including 25 as a holder.
Apart from Portugal, it was only very recently, during the U21 Euro, that he made a name for himself. And yet, nothing indicated that the native of Bissau was going to play this competition. During the qualifications, he had played only one match; The fault of a large number of major competitors, such as Tomás Araujo, Renato Veiga, Eduardo Quaresma or Gabriel Bras. However, last month, none was available to play the European championship: Araujo was injured, Veiga in team A, Quaresma forfeit and Bras was with FC Porto at the Club World Cup.
Chico Lamba then settled in the central hinge, alongside João Muniz, and turned out to be a very high quality central defender. Here is what we had written about it after the competition – which ended in quarters for Portugal: ” Surprise holder from the start of the competition (well helped by the absences of certain U21 already in team A or Eduardo Quaresma, who preferred not to play the Euro) the central defender of Arouca was, like Diogo Nascimento, a very nice discovery. Solid, excellent in anticipation, and even very interesting ball, the 22 -year -old was the best Portuguese defender, far ahead of João Muniz, and, like Samuel Soares, he was one of the main reasons why Portugal only conceded one goal in 360 minutes. »
Credit Photo: Portuguese Football Federation
