FC Porto spend 3.3m, brace for a calmer, more patient market | OneFootball

Just over two weeks before the official start of the season, marked by the Super Cup clash against Torreense, Francesco Farioli has only three new additions to the squad, not including the youngsters coming through from the academy. Eirik Granaas is seen as an investment for the future, while João Afonso currently sits fourth in the goalkeeping pecking order. André Silva, who involved no transfer fee, is therefore FC Porto’s only real signing for 2026/27. It is a very different reality from the biggest transfer market in the dragons’ history. This time, the strategy is different and requires more patience: so far, only €3.3 million has been spent.

There are several targets identified, although it is known that the market should become more active later on, also due to the influence of the World Cup. Even so, everything suggests this will be the quietest summer window of the Villas-Boas era. In the first transfer window in which he “went on the attack” while constrained by cash-flow difficulties, FC Porto signed seven players (Samu, Francisco Conceição, Moura, Deniz Gul, Nehuén Pérez, Fabio Vieira and Djaló), in an investment close to €40 million. At the time, the club acquired only 50% of the Spanish striker’s rights for €15 million. The team finished the league in third place and had a largely forgettable Club World Cup campaign, a scenario that led Villas-Boas to promise the biggest transfer market ever. The president delivered: 11 signings arrived (Froholdt, Alberto Costa, Gabri Veiga, Borja Sainz, Bednarek, Prpic, Pablo Rosario, Kiwior, De Jong, João Costa and Karamoh), in addition to the purchase of the remaining percentage of Samu’s rights and the acquisition of Nehuén Pérez’s rights. Farioli then had a quality squad at his disposal, which allowed the dragons to reclaim the national title and secure a return to the Champions League.

After a season without trophies, the team returns hungry for silverware, but also as the main side everyone wants to beat. For that reason, it will be necessary to raise the quality of the squad. André Villas-Boas and the sporting management continue to work discreetly, although the expectation is that the market will only speed up in a few weeks. Even so, FC Porto are not expected to sign as many reinforcements as they did last season. “June and July are when the market is most expensive. That is when most clubs protect their assets and ask for higher amounts. This is a market that usually develops later. Because of the arrival of new coaches, the start of pre-season, but also the beginning of those coaches’ own choices, and because of other clubs’ cash-flow needs. It is a market that will become active in August, in the final weeks of August, when clubs have more pressing immediate needs and then approach the market in a different way,” André Villas-Boas explained to newspaper O JOGO. Farioli and the dragons will therefore have to wait for developments. The fact that none of the regular starters has left so far – only Namaso, Thiago Silva, De Jong, Fofoana and Moffi have departed the club – does, however, allow the coach to prepare for the official start with enough quality to maintain a high competitive level. Winning the Super Cup and making a league start similar to last season’s are the most immediate objectives.

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