A sea change in Portuguese football as mid-level clubs cash in like never before | OneFootball

Casa Pia, Alverca, Estrela and Gil Vicente collect record transfer fees, Famalicão and Rio Ave also make hay

Throughout Portuguese football history Portugal’s Big Three of Porto, Benfica and Sporting have manufactured an overwhelming breach in quality between them and the Primeira Liga’s other sides. There are plenty of reasons for this gap, from the club’s gargantuan fanbases to their financial backing, accentuated in the modern game by their vastly superior TV rights and commercial revenue. But another major explanation for the gulf is the ability of Portugal’s main teams to hoover up the best footballers, especially the most promising young players, from the rest. From Fábio Coentrão (Rio Ave to Benfica), Diogo Jota (Paços de Ferreira to Porto) to Matheus Nunes (Estoril to Sporting), it’s a well-trodden path of players going from Liga Portugal’s minnows to plying their trade at one of Os Tres Grândes to then earning lucrative moves abroad.

From a quality perspective, Portugal is undoubtedly one of the best leagues in world football. From a financial perspective, however, it is dwarfed by Europe’s top five leagues as well as a host of other domestic competitions like MLS, Brasileirão, Saudi Pro League, Liga MX, EFL Championship, and Süper Lig. For the most part, these potential buyers have been more than willing to allow these raw talents to prove themselves in a top-tier Portuguese team before paying a premium for a more refined version of the same player.

However, that is finally starting to change, if the events of the 2026 winter transfer window are anything to go by.

Famalicão

Ever since returning to the Portuguese top-flight after a quarter-century, Famalicão have been able to stake out a reputation as one of the shrewdest recruiting clubs in Portugal. From Pedro Gonçalves to Luiz Júnior, from Otávio to Iván Jaime to Ugarte, they’ve sold several players for eight-digit fees since their return to the upper echelon, and their latest sale is none other than Yassir Zabiri.

Famalicão made a huge profit on Moroccon Yassir Zabiri after the striker shone in the U20 World Cup. (Photo: Getty Images)

After rising through the ranks at Morocco’s Mohammed VI Football Academy, Zabiri launched his professional career with Union Touarga, where, after just a half-season of senior football, he joined Famalicão for €600,000. Zabiri was eased into the side, scoring 5 goals and providing 1 assist in 6 appearances for their U23s and 3 goals in 6 appearances for the first team, before heading to Chile to take part in the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He took the opportunity by the scruff of the neck, finishing as the joint-top scorer with 5 goals and leading Morocco to their first-ever title with a brace against Argentina in the final. Zabiri then returned to northern Portugal and scored his first club goal of the season against Moreirense in November, before bagging a goal versus Braga and a brace against Estoril in his next two matches. It was more than enough to convince Ligue 1 side Stade Rennais to splurge €10 million on the 20-year-old centre-forward, signing him on a contract to 2029, and they’ll be hoping that he provides them an extra spark in their fight for Ligue 1’s final European spot.

“The case of Yassir Zabiri is a great example of Famalicão’s anticipation…it was an appreciable scouting job,” stated Expresso journalist Francisco Martins, speaking to PortuGOAL. “The Morocco youth system is generating great talent, and Famalicão managed to recruit one of their best prospects. From the moment Zabiri did what he did at the U-20 World Cup, it became impossible for Famalicão hold onto him.”

Casa Pia

Whilst Zabiri’s €10m fee wasn’t even enough to make the Mount Rushmore of Famalicão’s biggest sales, Casa Pia managed to net themselves a club-record transfer fee of €6.5 million after selling Renato Nhaga to Galatasaray. Born in Guinea-Bissau, Nhaga left Africa in 2022 but was originally banned from playing football in Portugal for administrative reasons. Patience proved to be a virtue for Nhaga, who joined Casa Pia’s youth academy in 2023 before signing his first professional contract on31  July 2024. After becoming Casa Pia’s youngest-ever debutant on 29 April 2025, Nhaga would play in the Gansos’ final two matches before making his debut for the Guinea-Bissau national team.

He hasn’t just made himself a vital cog for Guinea-Bissau, playing in each of their last six matches and starting the last two, but he also proved to be a revelation for Casa Pia. After being named Casa Pia’s Athlete of the Year and signing an extension through 2028, the diminutive midfielder emerged as a starter thanks to his superb passing ability and poise under pressure, bagging goals against Benfica and Tondela in the process. It wasn’t long before the best team in Türkiye came sniffing around, signing him on a contract through 2030. Nhaga has already made his first-team debut against Eyüpspor, and while he’s ineligible to play in the UEFA Champions League, he’ll be looking to spearhead Galatasaray to their fourth consecutive Süper Lig title.

“Renato Nhaga is the perfect example of a player who develops in the club’s youth system, reaches the first team, and becomes valued,” explained Martins. “Casa Pia isn’t even a club with a reputation for its individual development, but for me, that should be the focus. Players who have left the Portuguese league and found success abroad have given the championship a reputation as a supplier of talent, and mid-sized clubs are trying to identify potential reinforcements at a relatively early stage of their careers.

“However, I don’t think this is beneficial for the competitiveness of the Primeira Liga. If you notice, these players remained in Portugal for only a short time before reaching the peak of their abilities, and some never even reached it. The constant changes in the squads make it difficult to solidify a collective idea: it’s a delicate situation because not selling players is out of the question. In terms of youth development, I believe Benfica, Sporting, FC Porto, Vitória SC and SC Braga are on another level, but where I think other clubs have improved significantly is in scouting.”

Alverca

All things considered, it has been a memorable 12 months for F.C. Alverca. In February 2025, Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior and his partners became co-owners of the club, acquiring between around 75% of its shares for roughly €9 million. In May 2025, Alverca achieved their second straight promotion to return to Liga Portugal for the first time since 2003/04. In May 2025, Alverca got their back-to-back promotion to Liga Portugal. And after a shaky start, Custódio Castro’s side have started to find their feet in the top tier, ascending to 10th in the table, eight points above the relegation playoff spot.

However, they will have to make do without their midfield dynamo Alex Amorim for the final 12 matches. Born and raised in Fortaleza, Amorim broke onto the professional scene in 2025 with Brazilian second-tier side Athletic Club before joining Alverca – who have the same ownership as Athletic – with the Portuguese side acquiring 50% of the player’s economic rights for €310,000. It didn’t take long for them to enjoy a sizable return on their investment: after bagging 2 goals in 21 appearances, the Brazilian midfielder made the move to Serie A side Genoa for a club-record sale of €7.5 million.

Rio Ave

After three consecutive mid-table finishes in their return to Liga Portugal, Rio Ave are in grave danger of suffering relegation to the second tier. The Vilacondenses sit three points above the relegation playoff and five above the relegation zone after losing their last five matches, and they will be entering the season’s final months without two of their best players: André Luiz and Clayton. Ever since being added to a sporting empire containing Nottingham Forest and Olympiacos, Rio Ave have been resigned to losing some of their most prized assets for pennies on the dollar to the bigger sharks in Evangelos Marinakis’ domains.

Having sold Costinha to the Greek giants for €2.5 million in the summer, Rio Ave have once again been raided by Olympiacos for their two Brazilian forwards, Clayton and André Luiz, who scored 17 of their 23 league goals this season. Whilst Marinakis admitted that he was offered nearly €20m for Luiz by Wolves and Benfica as well as over €10m by an Emirati side for Clayton, he ended up selling them both to Olympiacos for a combined €11.75m. And whilst both strikers have gone from starters to substitutes in Piraeus, Rio Ave currently find themselves without a single player who has scored more than two league goals this season.

“André Luiz and Clayton were at a club, Rio Ave, with which it was very difficult to negotiate,” stated Martins. “Both were repeatedly linked to the big clubs in Portugal, but nothing ever materialized: André Luiz was the big saga of the last transfer window, but Evangelos Marinakis raised the price too much. André Luiz is also a particular case because Rio Ave bought him from Estrela (a club that has been recruiting very well), and it is not normal for pricey transfers to occur between lower-level Portuguese clubs.”

Estrela da Amadora

Another club that smashed their transfer record this past month was Estrela da Amadora. The successor of Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, founded in 1932 and extinct in 2011 due to financial problems and bankruptcy, Estrela rose from the ashes in 2020 and returned to the top flight in 2023/24, finishing 14th and 15th in the table, and today they sit 11th. The club decided to cash in on two of their most valuable figures: French-born Mauritania international Oumar Ngom joined Serie A side Lecce for €2 million, with the 21-year-old midfielder becoming the fourth Estrela player to join Lecce for a seven-digit fee in the past year.

The Tricolores also managed to bag themselves a club-record dividend of €6 million for Netherlands-born Cape Verde international Sidny Lopes Cabral, with the right back joining Benfica on a contract through 2030. Cabral has been involved from the get-go, bagging a goal and an assist in a 4-0 win against his former employers, and he’ll be looking to build on his promising displays in the capital and lock down a starting spot in defence under José Mourinho.

Gil Vicente

Four years after qualifying for Europe for the first time in the club’s history, Gil Vicente find themselves in the hunt for yet another date with continental football. The Roosters are crowing louder than ever, having knocked Braga off their usual perch of fourth place. César Peixoto’s side are currently one point above Braga, but if they are to return to UEFA competition, they’ll have to do so without two vital figures: Andrew Ventura and Pablo Felipe.

Andrew has emerged as one of Portugal’s best goalkeepers since arriving in 2021, and it was only a matter of time before the best teams in Brazil (and South America) came knocking on the door. Whereas Andrew has returned to his homeland and joined Flamengo for €1.5 million, his compatriot Pablo Felipe has more than tripled Gil’s previous record fee after joining Premier League outfit West Ham for €23 million. If Gil are missing their top scorer, they certainly aren’t showing it, having won four of their last five Primeira Liga matches.

“All of these players have had very different development processes, but the most impressive, especially considering the amount paid by West Ham, is Pablo Felipe,” stated Martins. “It’s a case of great individual merit. There aren’t many players loaned from teams other than Benfica, Sporting and FC Porto who succeed. Pablo played for Paços de Ferreira in the Second Division, on loan from Famalicão, and struggled, but his success at Gil Vicente is impressive because of his unusual trajectory, a story of resilience. In the past, these players would probably have had to go through one of the Big Three clubs to leave Portugal for those amounts. Today, that’s no longer the case.”