Rafael Ledesma joins Gzira United

Brazilian attacking midfielder Rafael Pompeo Rodrigues Ledesma joined newly-promoted Gzira United, signing a one-year deal.

Rafael Ledesma moved to Malta in 2014 to join Birkirkara. Last summer, he left the club to join Sliema Wanderers but in the January transfer market, he moved to Valletta where he won the BOV Premier League title. While at Birkirkara, he won the BOV Super Cup and the FA Trophy.

He started his career with Juventude in Brazil and after a short spell with Flamengo, moved to Portugal where he played for Académica de Coimbra and Estrela da Amadora. He returned to Brazil but was back in Europe a few weeks later to join FBK Kaunas in Lithuania in 2006. After a most successful two-year spell in Kaunas where he scored thirty-five goals in forty-six matches, Rafael Ledesma moved to Belarus where he played for Partizan Minsk and Dinamo Minsk. He returned to Lithuania to join FK Suduva but after another successful spell in the Baltic republic, in summer 2013, he moved to Ethnikos Achna in Cyprus.