Samu turned down Nottingham Forest before choosing FC Porto | OneFootball

Fate has these coincidences. FC Porto departs today for England, where they will face Nottingham Forest tomorrow in a Europa League group stage match, and one of the main focuses of attention will inevitably be on Samu. The Spanish forward, also the top scorer for the Dragons this season, will reunite with a club that sought to secure his signing before he headed to the Dragão.

Nottingham Forest showed concrete interest in the striker in the summer of 2024. At the time, the player's entourage met with the English club's officials to discuss a possible transfer, but the talks did not progress. The sports project presented did not convince Samu, who, advised by his close circle, preferred to decline the move. The decision proved to be correct: shortly after, enticed by the proposal from André Villas-Boas, the Spaniard signed with FC Porto, where he found the ideal setting to continue evolving and establishing himself in European football.

At just 21 years old, Samu quickly became one of the main figures of the Porto team, now led by Francesco Farioli, a coach who has used him as an offensive reference in a system that favors mobility and high pressure. His effectiveness has been remarkable: he has scored five goals in the Liga Portugal Betclic and three in the Portuguese Cup, being the top scorer for the blues and whites in both competitions.

Before the League Cup enters the calendar, he has only one goal left to achieve a full house in 2025/26: to score in the Europa League. The duel with Nottingham Forest, precisely the club that just over a year ago tried to secure his services, presents itself as the perfect occasion to reach that goal and consolidate his status as a reliable scorer in a renewing FC Porto under Farioli's command.

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