On Jan. 14, 2025, the NNL revealed that Seaport Football Club would offer Leonardo an olive branch, a three-year contract with a salary of up to $1.5 million per year.
Harbour, the newly defended champions, are desperate to find a suitable successor in midfield following the departure of team centerpiece Oscar and frontline firebrand Vargas. 34-year-old Wu Lei's form has been in doubt since he suffered a knee injury late last year. Despite scoring a lot of goals, Brazilian winger Gustavo has limited attacking ability and has been mediocre against strong teams. As a result, head coach Muscat is desperate to bring in a skilled striker with the ability to capitalize on chances, and Leonardo has become his first choice. In the past two seasons of the Chinese Super League, Leonardo contributed 555 brilliant performances for Zhejiang, and his long-distance shooting ability is impressive.
Leonardo reportedly rushed from Dubai to Abu Dhabi on the 11th to meet with Harbour, who are conducting winter training there, signaling his imminent joining of the team. It is worth noting that Japanese J-League side Cerezo Osaka also tried to lure Leonardo with the highest wages, but he eventually chose Harbour. Seaport has prepared a three-year contract for him with an annual salary of about $1.5 million.
Currently, the Harbor is in full swing to rush the last piece of the puzzle for the new season. Apart from Leonardo, Brazilian foreigner Vital will soon join the team. In terms of internal reinforcements, tomorrow and Liu Ruofan have joined the team, and national youth star Efirdin is about to make his debut. Coach Muscat's biggest challenge now is to pick a suitable fifth foreigner, most likely a midfielder. Despite the departure of Chinese Super League (CSL) foreigner Oscar, the Seaports are still in contention for the title after this series of reinforcements.
