Leonino exclusive: Sporting open door for midfielder exit, want sell-on | OneFootball

Samuel Justo will leave Sporting in this summer transfer window, Leonino has learned. As previously reported by our newspaper, the midfielder is not part of Rui Borges' plans for next season, but the SAD led by Frederico Varandas intends to safeguard a percentage of the Portuguese youth international’s economic rights in a future transfer.

The truth is that the player’s contract with the Alvalade club expires at the end of the current season and, according to a source close to the process, Sporting’s officials are not interested in renewing it. Even so, the Lions are looking for a solution that allows them to retain economic rights over the player, believing he could increase in value in the coming years.

After an unsuccessful loan spell at Farense in 2024/25, Samuel Justo ended up staying with Sporting’s B team this season, under João Gião. However, the midfielder is not seen as a future option for Rui Borges in Sporting’s first team squad.

Loaned to the Algarve side in the second half of last season in order to get more regular playing time, the youngster made only five appearances from January onward and did not even surpass 206 minutes on the pitch for the team from southern Portugal.

In the 2025/26 season, Samuel Justo played 32 matches for Sporting B, all of them in the Segunda Liga. In total, the player was selected by João Gião to be on the pitch for 2,547 minutes, during which he scored three goals and provided one assist for his teammates.

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