Former Plymouth Argyle star Ruben Lameiras made a shock return to English football last night, when he featured in Season Two of Baller League UK.
The 30-year-old hasn’t played a match in England since his initial departure from Plymouth, so understandably there were a lot of surprised faces when he was announced last night.
Currently, the Pilgrims are struggling for form in League One and were heavily beaten by Northampton Town at the weekend.
Former Plymouth Argyle star makes Baller League debut
Confirmed originally via Baller League’s official Twitter, former Plymouth Argyle star Ruben Lameiras made his return to English football last night.
Lameiras featured as a wildcard for Yanited FC, which is the team ran by YouTuber Angry Ginge and managed by Wealdstone’s Sam Cox.
For context, a ‘wildcard’ is a player that isn’t registered as a member of one of the 12 Baller League sides and wasn’t in the pre-season draft pool. Each team can use a maximum of two wildcards per week.
During his Baller League debut, the former Plymouth man failed to score as his Yanited side drew 2-2 against MVPs United.
How did Lameiras fare last season?
After arriving in Qatar, Lameiras quickly found a way to adapt to the league and culture, averaging a goal contribution every three or so matches.
He registered 16 appearances across all competitions for Al-Sailiya, scoring twice and providing four additional assists.
However, following their promotion to the top flight, Lameiras has only featured twice – playing a combined 37 minutes for his side and hasn’t registered an appearance since the end of August.
Could he return to English football?
Currently, Lameiras is contracted to Qatar first division side Al–Sailiya but has only made a handful of appearances and hasn’t featured in over three months.
He came through the doors with Tottenham Hotspur, but gained the spotlight with spells at Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle before returning to Portugal in 2019.
He left Home Park as a fan favourite and given he is back in England and out of favour in Qatar, the door is open for a move back to the UK and possibly even the EFL.
