Spanish winger racks up goals and assists, sets the tempo at FC Porto | OneFootball

After performances below expectations, especially against Nottingham Forest in England and Moreirense in the league, Borja Sainz made a strong comeback against SC Braga, proving decisive by scoring the winning goal in the final moments. In the Europa League, against Utrecht, the speedy Spanish winger once again showed his finishing instinct by securing the equalizer in the Netherlands, thus guaranteeing another point for Francesco Farioli’s team. In Famalicão, in a highly challenging match, he came on earlier than expected and gave new energy to the attack.

The match in Minho worsened an injury to his right ankle that he had sustained in the Netherlands, but Borja returned to action in the Portuguese Cup, paving the way to the round of 16 with a well-placed shot that only stopped in Sintrense’s net.

This is, without a doubt, the best version yet of the summer signing for the blue and whites, who was brought in from Norwich, of the Championship, for a fixed fee of €13.3 million, with the possibility of performance bonuses that could reach €2 million. The English club retained 20 percent of the capital gain from a future transfer of the forward, a percentage that FC Porto’s board is expected to acquire half of by the end of the season, upon payment of €1 million—a way to maximize future profits with Borja Sainz in case he is sold.

Based on what he has shown, Borja Sainz, 24, fits the “Porto style” profile with his commitment on the pitch, never giving up on a ball. In addition to his goals in the recent series of matches—he had already scored twice in the home game against Casa Pia—the winger has also been important in assisting his teammates: he already has two assists in this league campaign, first against Vitória de Guimarães in the opening round and then in the comfortable win at Arouca. If he maintains this pace, he could approach last season’s numbers, when he scored 19 goals for Norwich and added four assists.

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