Could a 20-year-old ‘rookie’ be Liga Portugal’s best player? | OneFootball

With the 1-3 victory away to Estoril Praia this Sunday, FC Porto took another step toward the season’s main objective: winning the national title again.

As that blue-and-white dream becomes increasingly real, it also makes sense to start looking at other matters linked to the Liga Portugal Betclic. One of them, for example, is the discussion over who could be the competition’s MVP in 2025/26.

It is not uncommon for that award to end up in the hands of a player from the winning team and, for that reason, it is worth looking at the current league leaders. With no champion yet decided, the start of the final five rounds is, however, a good time to begin putting together the puzzle around the best player.

In the case of the side coached by Farioli, success has been built largely on defensive solidity, but that area of the pitch has already seen better days this season – the number of goals conceded has been rising – and there is no individual figure who clearly stands out in that sector, with the Polish defenders sharing the credit. Diogo Costa would be the most obvious choice, but the team’s defensive consistency itself has often also spared the captain too much work.

In attack, the team’s top scorer is Samu, with 13 goals, but the forward will finish the season on his current total of 20 matches due to an injury that, moreover, has led to goals being spread more unevenly across the squad. So much so that, apart from the Spanish international, no other FC Porto player appears in the top 20 footballers with the greatest goal involvement in the league.

I think you already understand, dear reader, where we are going by process of elimination…

Froholdt, a newcomer looking for a place in history

Taking these figures into account, as well as the rotation Farioli has promoted in other positions, it is hard not to see Victor Froholdt as the most natural candidate when looking for a standout figure at FC Porto. And, consequently, if the Dragons lift the trophy, also in the championship as a whole.

This Sunday, the Danish midfielder was once again decisive in securing the three points. With apparently inexhaustible stamina, he was always joining the attacking play through penetrating runs that created some doubt about his true position, without ever abandoning his main duties in midfield. He also got on the scoresheet – the third goal – but before that he had already shown ambition in the box to attack a corner and quite directly forced Xeka’s own goal.

It was his fifth goal in the league, which, added to his six assists, makes him the second player in the squad with the greatest impact near goal. A record made even more impressive when we consider that it was not his scoring numbers that led André Villas-Boas to move forward with this investment. It was also his seventh goal in all competitions, making this the most productive season of Froholdt’s still very short career.

According to the statistical algorithm that assigns player ratings on our portal, Ricardo Horta (SC Braga) and Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting) have been the standout performers, but Liga Portugal is unlikely to follow similar criteria when it comes to handing out the award at the end of the season. If Froholdt is chosen for that official competition honour, awarded annually for the past 20 years (yes, since the year the Dane was born…), he will become the youngest ever to receive it.

“The speed at which he adapted is impressive”

Unsurprisingly, Francesco Farioli is an admirer of Victor Froholdt. The coach also deserves credit for the way he managed the youngster throughout the season, reducing his minutes in winter when fatigue became evident, but this Sunday he preferred to place all the praise on his player.

“He is a very good player. I think his progress since the start of the season has been fantastic. He arrived here as a young player with great potential and integrated well into the team’s dynamics. Top attitude. Top profile. He is a player who wants to develop in every aspect on and off the pitch. He pays great attention to the small details,” he began by saying, in comments you can watch in the video below.

“I think what he is doing and giving to the team goes beyond what were our best expectations. And those were high, otherwise the club would not have invested 20 million euros in a player who was 19 at the time. What he is doing and the speed at which he adapted is honestly impressive.”

He arrived in the summer as a teenager and as a bet for the future, but he already carries significant weight in the squad and in FC Porto’s starting eleven. Could he go even further and become the leading figure of the Liga Portugal Betclic?

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.