Portuguese playmaker, who was at Chelsea as a trainee, joins Crawley Town

Filipe, 32, has joined Reds after his contract with Championship club Bolton Wanderers expired last month.

The 32-year-old has a wealth of experience in the British game going back 13 years to his time at Chelsea as a trainee. He has also played twice for Portugal’s under-21s.

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During his time at Stamford Bridge Filipe had loan spells with MK Dons, Millwall and St Johnstone before he joined Hibernian on a free transfer in 2007.

He had two seasons at Easter Road, making 36 appearances before finishing the 2008-09 campaign at another Scottish Premier League club Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The following season he made 33 appearances in his second spell at St Johnstone before heading back south for two seasons in League One at Oldham Athletic. Filipe made 68 appearances for the Latics and then headed to Stevenage, for whom he played 66 times.

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Bradford City in League One was his next port of call where the playmaker made 71 appearances. His form for the Bantams earned him a move to Bolton for whom he played 56 times in 18 months, including 37 last season in the Championship as Bolton survived on the final day of the season.

Filipe can play anywhere across midfield and has contributed 42 goals to his various previous clubs in 390 appearances.

Head Coach Harry Kewell said: “Filipe is a tremendous acquisition for us. He was excellent for Bolton in the Championship last season and when he was released my assistant Warren Feeney, who knows him well, was in touch straight away. It’s been on the boil for a few weeks now and the club has shown their ambition with this signing.

“He is a playmaker, great on the ball and a real threat at set pieces. With Romain Vincelot signing as well, it’s been a very good day for us and I hope shows to our supporters that we are really looking to build on the progress we made last season.”

Director of Football Selim Gaygusuz added: “Filipe is one of the best signings I believe the club has made in the last few years. Last season he played more than 30 Championship games and he has vast experience at a very good level in England and Scotland.

“I think our fans will really enjoy watching him play. He is both a creator and scorer of goals and he is going to be a really big asset to us. Lots of clubs were interested in him, so we’re delighted he has chosen to be part of what we want to achieve here.”

Filipe has been given squad no. 22.

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