After millions spent, Varandas starts cleaning house at Sporting | OneFootball

Sporting have already started planning for next season, and there are several players whose future is far from certain. After spending more than €25 million on recent signings, the SAD led by Frederico Varandas is now assessing possible departures of players who failed to establish themselves at Alvalade.

One of the most delicate cases is that of Giorgi Kochorashvili. The Georgian international recently admitted he is going through a difficult period due to his lack of playing time. Signed for €5.5 million, plus add-ons, the midfielder made just 26 appearances, nine of them as a starter, totaling 972 minutes in a season in which he never managed to secure a regular place in Rui Borges’ team.

Georgios Vagiannidis also fell short of the expectations created when he arrived. The Greek full-back cost Sporting €12 million and featured in 33 matches, but ended up losing his place in the team, even being overtaken in the pecking order by centre-back Eduardo Quaresma. At Alvalade, there is already talk of a possible return to Greece or a move to Villarreal.

Ricardo Mangas and Souleymane Faye complete the list of players under evaluation. The Portuguese full-back, signed from Spartak Moscow for just €300,000, played in 23 matches, while Faye, bought from Granada for €6.5 million, had very little impact, totaling just 161 minutes spread across nine games, always coming off the bench.

Altogether, the four players have accumulated fewer minutes than Francisco Trincão alone last season. While the Portuguese international racked up 4,602 minutes, Kochorashvili, Vagiannidis, Mangas and Faye were limited to 4,400. With Morita already on his way out and possible changes to the squad ahead, Varandas and Rui Borges are now fine-tuning their strategy for 2026/27, in a summer that promises to bring major developments to Alvalade.

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