Olympiacos FC announces the acquisition of Portuguese midfielder Francisco Leonel Lima Silva Machado, also known as Chiquinho.
Born on July 19, 1995 in the city of Santo Tirso, near Porto, Chiquinho spent most of his youth in Leixões’s youth academy, making his debut with the first team in 2014.
In the summer of 2015 he was loaned to Gondomar and in February 2017 was acquired by the Croatian Lokomotiva. In July of the same year, Coimbra proceeded to borrow him and in January 2018 the option to buy him was activated by the Portuguese club. In May 2018, Chiquinho signed a five-year contract with Benfica, who resigned a new five-year contract with him in July 2019, after temporarily loaning him to Moreirense (38 appearances, 10 goals, 8 assists).
In the summer of 2021 he was acquired on loan by Braga and in February 2022 by the Turkish Giresunspor, to become a key member of Benfica in the 2022–2023 season. Wearing Benfica’s jersey Chiquinho made a total of 126 appearances (28 in the Champions League and the Europa League), scored 9 goals and served 11 assists, and won one Championship and two Super Cups.
This year he counts 17 appearances, nine of which in the Championship and five in the Champions League.
Chiquinho, welcome to Olympiacos.
