The New England Revolution could be looking to make a splash among the Boston area's sizeable Cape Verdean community, and they may do so with the help of Portuguese partners Sporting CP.
According to Lisbon-based journalist Paulo Teixeira, team officials are headed to Portugal with their eyes on Cape Verde international midfielder Heldon, who is currently representing his country at the 2015 African Cup of Nations.
Heldon, 26, is an attacking midfielder who came up through the Portuguese lower leagues before breaking into the top division with CS Maritimo. His play there (15 goals in 82 appearances over four seasons) earned him a January 2014 move to Sporting, but he has since struggled to find playing time. He has made just two appearances totaling 64 minutes in league play this year, and has played two more games in cup competition.
At the international level, Heldon has now made 33 appearances for the island nation located off the coast of West Africa. He was a starter in Cape Verde's Cup of Nations opener against Tunisia on Sunday and scored a goal from the penalty spot, his 12th in international play, to earn his team a 1-1 draw.
The interest was also picked up by Portuguese sports daily O Jogo, who mentioned that the move could be a loan. Back in November, the Revolution and Sporting signed a multi-year strategic partnership focused on collaboration in training methods for the first and youth teams, and also allowed New England to take Sporting players on loan.
New England is home to a majority of the approximately 500,000 people of Cape Verdean descent in the United States and also boasts significant populations from other Portuguese-speaking countries.
