Hartford Athletic Add Midfielder Junior Moreira
The former Cancún FC player adds depth to the Hartford midfield
Hartford Athletic announced on Wednesday that they had signed midfielder Junior Moreira ahead of the 2025 season. Moreira is the eighth player added by the Latics in the 2024-25 offseason and gives them 17 players announced to be under contract with a little over a week before their first regular-season game.
Moreira, who hails from Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, has been with Cancún FC in the Liga Expansión MX since 2021, making his debut in a 2-1 loss to Oaxaca in the Apertura 2021. He subsequently made 95 appearances for them across all competitions in that span, with his final appearance coming in a 1-1 draw against Atlético La Paz in the Apertura 2024.
During his time with the club, Cancún had their most successful spell in the 2023-24 season, winning the Apertura 2023, and then defeated Clausura 2024 winners Atlanta on penalties in the Campeón de Campeones final. Moreira was heavily used across this campaign, including playing every minute of the two-legged final.
While still somewhat raw — not entirely unexpected for a player only just about to turn 22 — Moreira appears to possess solid instincts with a good range of passing and a willingness to get stuck in defensively. His game will need to be refined a little to have success in the USL Championship, but there are qualities there to make him intriguing.
The Latics have other players at his most natural positions — Samuel Careaga, Beverly Makangila and Marlon Hairston all overlap with him — so there might not be incredible urgency for him to develop, but he did start the preseason fixture against New England Revolution which might indicate that things are progressing in the right direction.
The Blazing Musket will have coverage of Hartford Athletic’s remaining offseason moves as they are announced.