Who is Reinildo Mandava, the Mozambican star of Atlético de Madrid and how much does his pass cost?

Reinildo Mandava, a Mozambican international who turned 28 on January 21, is a different player to Lodi and Carrasco. He does not stand out in attack. He shines in defense. 

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He is a left-back with great ability in that position; in one-on-one defense, in physical deployment, and moves with ease in the air. 

With the French side, he played in the 4-4-2 formation that helped Lille become French League champions last season, to the credit of winning in direct competition with multi-millionaire Paris Saint-Germain.

In his 87 official matches for Lille, whom he joined in the summer of 2019, he has scored just one goal and not provided any assists in that run, in which he also won the French Super Cup with a 1-0 victory over PSG.

Who is Reinildo Mandava?

Voted best left-back in the French league after winning the championship last season, Reinildo has been a late bloomer. 

At just 20 years of age, he was recruited from Maputo in Mozambique by Benfica for their reserve team, although he never made his debut in the Lisbon first team. 

After several loans to Second Division clubs (FAFE and Sporting Covilha), he made his debut in the top flight of Portuguese soccer with Os Belenenses in the 2018-19 season. With only 19 appearances in the elite, Lille secured his loan in the winter market and ended up paying a €3 million transfer fee at the end of that loan.

Under the guidance of Cristophe Galtier, Reinildo eventually emerged as a full-back who was difficult to beat in terms of speed, tactically rigorous in defending, and in choosing when to join the attack.

How much does his pass cost?

According to Transfermarkt, the Mozambican has a cost of 10 million euros. The 28-year-old Beria-born player arrived for 10 million to Atletico and has maintained that value so far.

With Atlético de Madrid he has played 9 games, 7 in LaLiga and two in the Champions League. His last 8 games have been as a starter and in 7 of them, he played all 90 minutes. So far this season he has played 743 minutes.

From a humble family

Raised in a very humble family, Reinildo is the son and grandson of soccer players. His father was also a coach. He never wanted to go to see him play, but the first time he went, he announced to his son that he would be a professional player in Europe.  

The loss, first of his father and then of his mother, made him the head of the family when he had barely reached the age of majority.

He has been capped 31 times by Mozambique and whenever he can, he goes to his home country, where he either gives lectures to children about his experience in soccer or is called upon by the health authorities to warn the population about the need to protect themselves against covid.

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