Forward Madison FC has acquired 25-year-old attacking midfielder Matheus Cassini from Bulgarian top-flight club Botev Vratsa, the team announced Thursday.
Cassini has one goal in 11 appearances with the club this season. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, he joined Brazilian club Corinthians as a youth and in 2017 went to Italian club Palermo, which had just been relegated to Serie B, for a reported transfer fee of about $650,000. He never appeared for the senior team, however, and was loaned to Croatian and Italian squads, making fifteen appearances with the Italian side Siracusa. In 2017, Cassini signed a 5-month deal with club Ponte Preta in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A league. Later that year, he signed with Santos FC and then Oeste FC. In 2018, Cassini signed a two and a half year contract with Amiens SC, a French Ligue 1 club. In 2021, Cassini played for Sampaio Corrêa making 11 appearances before moving to Botev Vratsa.
“Matheus has a wealth of international experience,” head coach Matt Glaser said in a statement. “He’s played at high levels and we anticipate him to be a high-impact performer for our team and in the league. He’s hardworking, versatile in and out of possession, and has a deadly left foot.”
The move is unusual in that it comes in the midst of the European season, while Cassini’s club is still competing in Bulgaria’s top division. A Forward Madison spokesman said it is not a loan agreement and no transfer fee was paid, however.
Cassini is the fourth new signing announced by the club in recent weeks. Players report for preseason training in the second week of February, and league play gets underway April 2 as the Mingos visit Chattanooga Red Wolves, then host defending league champion Union Omaha at Breese Stevens Field on April 9.
