André Villas-Boas unveils Porto plan: “Academy to Olival, pros here” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas, president of FC Porto, and Luís Filipe Menezes, mayor of Gaia, met this Monday. The meeting began at the Jorge Costa Training and Sports Development Center in Olival and continued at the site where FC Porto’s High Performance Center is expected to be built, where an update was given on the project’s progress. At the end, the Dragons’ leader spoke to journalists.

«For us, this is an absolutely fundamental infrastructure. We spent 23 years at the Olival Training and Sports Development Center, now named the Jorge Costa TSDC, and in those 23 years FC Porto reached an unprecedented level of national and international success. This is the continuation of the good work we want to carry on, and we chose the Municipality of Gaia because of its proximity to a Training Center that has already given us so much. We want the High Performance Center to give us even more, so for us it was an obvious choice, one that will allow FC Porto to grow in terms of infrastructure and offer its professionals the best conditions to keep performing. This project is decisive for us. I want to thank President Luís Filipe Menezes for having been involved in the creation of our first Training Center, but also in the creation of FC Porto’s High Performance Center in the Municipality of Gaia. May it bring success to both institutions», began André Villas-Boas, who then detailed other aspects of the project.

«FC Porto’s High Performance Center will bring more people to the municipality, and there are projects we want to improve, starting with access routes, to allow Porto supporters to enjoy the new environment of the Jorge Costa TSDC and the HPC. It is important to remember that all of our youth development will move to Olival and that all of our professional teams will be here, at the HPC. That means there will be more Porto supporters and more people on the move», explained André Villas-Boas, who ended with a word of thanks to Gaia City Council.

«Gaia City Council is essential to creating access to the HPC, as are Infraestruturas de Portugal. We wanted to draw attention to this need, which will benefit the Olival area and everyone in the surrounding parishes, such as Avintes, Lever, or Pedroso. All of this is necessary so that we can make the best use of the infrastructure that will be installed here», concluded André Villas-Boas.

It should be remembered that the signing of the protocol for the construction of FC Porto’s High Performance Center took place a year ago already, in May 2025.

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