In a note published on the official website, the Guimarães say that the club from the main Qatari championship presented “a proposal for the purchase of the pass and guaranteed the defender for 20 years definitively”, without specifying the values of the deal, nor the duration of the contract. signed by the central with Al-Rayyan.
Born in Figueira da Foz, André Amaro played for Naval 1.º de Maio and Académica before moving to Guimarães in the 2018/19 season, aged 16, and making his debut for the Minho’s main team in 21 December 2020, in the rout imposed on Santa Clara, in Ponta Delgada (4-0).
International for the under-21 selection of Portugal on four occasions and for the under-20 selection on nine occasions, the defender asserted himself as a starter at Vitória in 2022/23, a season in which he played 32 of the 55 official games for the main team of the Victorians.
Following the transfer, the player promised to continue to support Vitória and was grateful to the Guimarães club for making him “grow as a man” and for the coaches and colleagues with whom he deprived.
“The message I want to send is a huge thank you for always supporting me when I needed it most, for pulling me up when I was down there. I thank all the coaches who contributed to my growth and my colleagues. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a group like this. I will miss them a lot. It’s a fantastic group”, he said, in a video published on the official website of Vitória de Guimarães.
After Ibrahima Bamba, defender transferred to Al-Duhail, André Amaro is the second player in this summer ‘market’ to move from Vitória to Qatar, where he will be coached by Leonardo Jardim, a 49-year-old Portuguese coach who he was crowned champion of Greece, in 2012/13, for Olympiacos, of France, in 2016/17, for Monaco, and of Saudi Arabia, in 2021/22, for Al-Hilal.