The rise of Ruben Lameiras: From Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle to the fifth biggest club in Portugal
Having just completed his move to Vitoria Guimaraes, Ruben Lameiras has already made his debut for the illustrious Portuguese club as a 79th minute substitute against Moreirense - but his rise to this point has been impressive, and an illustration of his hard-work, determination and undoubted talent to get to this point.
Born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1994, Lameiras completed a dream move to Tottenham Hotspur at the age of 17 in July 2011, signing a professional contract with the club just three years later. He never managed to make an impact at Spurs though, and after being released in 2015, dropped down a couple of division to secure regular game time.
Signing with League One’s Coventry City in 2015, playing in the third tier of English football, would not have necessarily been part of Lameiras’ hopes and dreams, but while many players may have lost motivation having had a taste of being on the books of an elite continental club, Lameiras worked hard to impress for Coventry, and earned 69 appearances for the side - though many of those did come off the bench.
He eventually left Coventry two years later having just won the EFL Cup, scoring 7 goals in his time spent at the club - 3 of which came in the league - and opted to join league rivals Plymouth Argyle instead.
It was here that he really impressed, becoming far more productive in front of goal as he found the back of the net 6 times in his debut season, followed by a contribution of a further 11 goals - and 9 assists - in the 2018-19 campaign.
Despite Lameiras’ exceptional performances, where he directly contributed to a goal every 140 minutes from the wing, Plymouth suffered relegation to the fourth tier of the English game, and it was surely inevitable that a player of Lameiras’ quality had to move on.
And his exploits earned him a move home to Portuguese Primeira Liga newcomers Famalicao in 2019, who were assembling a highly impressive side, having made good use of the loan market. It was his first stint as a professional footballer in Portugal, and was a real opportunity to make a name for himself.
And he took his chance well; though his first season saw him compete with some top-quality players such as Fabio Martins and Diogo Goncalves, Lameiras still managed to make 22 league appearances, scoring 2 goals and assisting 5 as his impressive dribbling helped newly-promoted Famalicao to a highly impressive 6th place finish.
While many players ended up leaving in the summer, either being sold or seeing their loan deals at the club expire, Lameiras stayed on and established himself as a crucial first-team player, and though Famalicao have struggled significantly this season, Lameiras continued to impress, his 4 goals in 11 outings showing how he was stepping up in the absence of some former stars.
And his efforts did not go unnoticed, with Vitoria Guimaraes, the fifth biggest club in Portugal and 2019-20 Europa League competitors, opting to sign the 26-year old on a permanent deal.
With the likes of Marcus Edwards, Ricardo Quaresma and Rochinha already at the club, Lameiras has some quality players to compete with to get a regular place in the starting XI - but he is clearly highly rated by Guimaraes, and has even been handed a 50 million euro release clause.
With many years of football at the highest level ahead of him, it will be interesting to see just how far Lameiras’ rise will go, and whether he could even make a case to make the Portugal national team at some point in the coming years, having never represented the country at any youth level.
Ruben Lameiras. Photo author: Euanargyle. License link.
