Frederico Varandas reveals deal with Sporting’s key player | OneFootball

Morten Hjulmand could have left Sporting in the summer, but made an agreement with Frederico Varandas. The Lions’ captain will stay at Alvalade during the 2025/26 season, fighting for the third consecutive championship, but is expected to leave the Club after the end of the season.

"I want to say a word about our captain, because he turned down countless offers to earn three times as much and agreed… We had a conversation with the management and Morten will stay for another year. But we managed to keep Morten," he began by saying, before the Futsal Super Cup between Sporting and Benfica.

With several transfer rumors surrounding the squad, Varandas was adamant: "Trincão was supposed to go to Saudi Arabia. Gonçalo Inácio to Saudi Arabia. Diomande was lost to Crystal Palace. And what happened? We kept the group together."

"Sporting fans need to understand one thing. Sporting did not finish in third place. Sporting did not finish in second place. Sporting has a double-champion locker room! And if any player is to come in, it has to be someone better than double-champion Trincão, than double-champion Pote, than double-champion Morten, than double-champion Inácio," Varandas added.

To conclude, the Lions’ president believes in a "stronger squad," presenting data to support this: "I look at the most reliable tool for clubs as a barometer of market value [Transfermarkt] and last year, Sporting had the most valuable squad in the league. Now, with the transfer window closed and the players we have, isn’t Sporting’s squad once again the most valuable in the league? And with about 80 million more than the second-placed team. And about 100 million more than the third-placed team."

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