Charlotte FC move Nuno Santos with Andre Shinyashiki departure imminent as well

By Brian Maurer

Nuno Santos (left) and Andre Shinyashiki (Photos courtesy of Charlotte FC)

On April 15th, Charlotte FC fans were incredulous when Andre Shinyashiki and Nuno Santos were not a part of the squad versus the Colorado Rapids. After being absent from the roster for multiple weeks, head coach, Christian Lattanzio, stated in a presser that they were left out due to “private” matters.

Before the last trade window closed, Tom Bogert from The Athletic reported that Charlotte FC attempted to trade Shinyashiki to Real Salt Lake. This deal reportedly fell through due to an MLS investigation.

Carroll Walton from the Charlotte Ledger broke the story that Shinyashiki had a sexual assault police report filed on him. The incident occurred early in the morning on February 26th. Shinyashiki stated, “I fully cooperated with police and MLS…I’ve also been cleared by MLS to play” in response to the report. Bogert and Pablo Maurer from The Athletic reported that Santos was linked to the same assault allegation as Shinyashiki.

Charlotte FC today announced midfielder Nuno Santos has joined Vitória S.C. on a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee.

Charlotte are also close to moving on Andre Shinyashiki as well. It is unclear as to whether Andre will continue in MLS as sources have mentioned that a trade to an unknown MLS team in Canada was rejected recently as well.

After all the drama surrounding these two players, moving both of them will open up some much-needed cap space and an international roster spot.