12 April 2007, by Sean Gillen

Falkirk boss puts Pedro Moutinho on his keep list

John Hughes keen to retain “great talent and fantastic guy”

Falkirk manager John Hughes has revealed the club are hoping to convince Portuguese forward Pedro Moutinho to remain with the Scottish Premier League side for next season.

The 27-year-old former Portuguese under-21 international has struggled to claim a regular starting place this season, but scored his first league goal of the campaign in a recent win over St Mirren.

With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, Moutinho recently expressed an interest in returning to his homeland, while the player also has an offer from China, but Hughes would like his forward to stay put.

“Pedro definitely has great talent and I see him doing things in training that I marvel at,” Hughes told Scottish paper Daily Record.

“I also love his sense of humour and he is a fantastic guy to work with. I’d love to keep Pedro at the club next year. He is definitely on my list to keep. It’s about getting down to business.”

Moutinho arrived in Scotland in 2004 from Penafiel and has become a firm fans’ favourite at the Falkirk Stadium, particularly after scoring a memorable goal against leading SPL club Rangers in 2005.

However, he suffered a serious knee injury in 2005, and has struggled to regain full fitness ever since, leading to the Porto-born forward being mainly restricted to substitute appearances so far during the current campaign.

Moutinho is currently one of three Portuguese players at Falkirk, with defender Tiago, 23, formerly of FC Infesta, and midfielder Vitor Lima, 25, who was signed from Academica de Viseu, both having arrived in the summer of 2005.