Cameroonian midfielder Vini Lontsi has completed a permanent move from SC Covilhã to União Nogueirense FC on a free transfer, signing a contract that runs from 2026-02-03 to 2025-06-30. The deal sees the 22-year-old central midfielder leave Liga 3 side Covilhã for Nogueirense, with no transfer fee changing hands and no official market value listed for the player.
The switch keeps Lontsi in Portuguese football but confirms his future away from Covilhã, a club he joined from SC Coimbrões ahead of the 2025/26 season after an earlier spell there in 2023/24. Having already spent several years in Portugal’s lower divisions, the move to Nogueirense underlines his commitment to building his professional career abroad rather than in his native Cameroon.
Lontsi, born in Baleveng and standing at 1.85m, is listed as a right-footed central midfielder, operating primarily in the middle of the park. His pathway through Portuguese football has been steady and linear: from Leça FC U19 to Leça FC’s senior side, then to SC Covilhã in 2023, on to SC Coimbrões in 2024, back again to Covilhã in 2025, and now to União Nogueirense FC in 2026. All of his previous moves have been standard transfers inside Portugal, reinforcing his status as an established part of the country’s semi-professional and lower-league landscape.
While the latest deal has been completed as a free transfer, the absence of a recorded market value underlines that Lontsi is still operating outside the higher-profile, heavily monetised tiers of European football. Nonetheless, his consistent employment in Portugal’s competitive environment, including time in Liga 3 with Covilhã, shows that clubs see tangible utility in his profile as a central midfielder.
The move to Nogueirense also keeps him within a Portuguese structure rather than returning to any domestic Cameroonian club, ensuring he continues to gain experience in European football. From a Cameroonian perspective, he remains one of many young players developing their game abroad, with his national-team line in the data tied to União Nogueirense FC rather than to any senior Cameroon selection.
Nogueirense, competing outside the country’s top professional divisions, add a player already familiar with multiple Portuguese clubs and environments. For Lontsi, this transfer offers stability and another platform to consolidate his career in Europe. If he can establish himself as a regular and influential central midfielder for União Nogueirense FC, this move could become a springboard to higher levels of Portuguese football and, potentially, a broader reputation beyond the country’s lower leagues.
