Eirik Granaas wins over FC Porto: “He left everyone astonished” | OneFootball

FC Porto continue to invest in young talent and, after paying Santa Clara €1.5 million, plus €500,000 in bonuses, for 19-year-old João Afonso, have now invested €1.8 million — a figure that could rise to €3.3 million if certain targets are met — to secure 16-year-old Eirik Granaas from Fredrikstad.

Norwegian journalist Martin Bjerke closely followed the midfielder’s development over the past year and, speaking to newspaper O Jogo in this Monday’s edition, explained the qualities that led the board headed by André Villas-Boas to move for his signing.

“He is very mature for his age, has his head in the right place, and that will help him steer his career in the right direction. His older brother [Sondre] plays for Molde, and his father [Lars] made more than 300 appearances during his football career,” he began by saying about a player regarded as one of the biggest Scandinavian ‘diamonds’ of the moment.

“He is the perfect example of a modern midfielder. He can play in several positions in the middle of the pitch, further forward or deeper. His passing ability and vision are what make him a truly special talent. He can spot spaces and players with passing lanes in a way that cannot be taught — he was born with it,” he continued.

“He was immediately called up to the first team for the pre-season training camp in Spain (…). He left everyone astonished by the ability he showed,” he concluded.

FC Porto moved early

FC Porto’s investment in Eirik Granaas was significant, especially considering the midfielder has only 14 official senior appearances, the first of which came on 22 June 2026, when Andreas Hagen brought him on for Rocco Shein near the end of Fredrikstad’s 3-0 defeat away to Viking.

In that match, he became the youngest player ever to feature in the Eliteserien, at just 15 years old, breaking the record of Martin Odegaard, the current Arsenal captain, by 27 days. That mark, however, was later surpassed in March by Gabriel Rajkovic, a Valerenga forward.

Even though he was only on the pitch for around ten minutes, he showed more than enough signs to catch the attention of the Dragons, who from then on began to monitor him constantly. Even so, they were not the only interested party, as the player was also on the radar of clubs from Belgium — notably Club Brugge — as well as Germany and England.

Faced with the growing interest surrounding Eirik Granaas, the officials of the new national champions decided to act early and secure a reinforcement for the midfield of the squad managed by Italian coach Francesco Farioli, who, in an initial phase, will work under João Brandão in the B team.

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