Exclusive Leonino - Sporting starter forces Varandas back into the market | OneFootball

Frederico Varandas may be forced to return to the transfer market, in search of another midfielder for Rui Borges' squad. Our Journal reveals, in this Exclusive Leonino, that the injury suffered by Hidemasa Morita, in the match against Nacional, has set off alarm bells at Clube de Alvalade.

Morita spent most of last season with physical problems, leaving the Lions' midfield depleted for several games. He returned this season and regained his starting position with Rui Borges, but got injured again against Nacional and is expected not to be an option for the next Sporting games.

This absence, as well as the repeated physical problems of the Japanese international, have set off alarm bells in Alvalade. Sporting wants to avoid the injury problems it faced last season, and Frederico Varandas is even considering going to the market to bring in another midfielder for Rui Borges' squad.

In this sense, Sporting is already studying the market and sounding out possible targets to reinforce the Lions' midfield. This measure would also be a way to anticipate a need that the greens and whites will have to face next year, since Morita's contract ends in the summer of 2026, which will leave the Lions needing to hire a midfielder, just like what happened in the current transfer window.

Without Morita, Sporting is left with only Morten Hjulmand, Kochorashvili, and João Simões as options for the midfield, to which Pedro Gonçalves can be added, if Rui Borges wants to adapt the star, who has been playing as a winger. Recall that, as our Journal previously revealed, in Exclusive Leonino, the young Portuguese midfielder has been losing space in the team, another reason that may force the green and white leaders to attack the market still in August.

Remember the moment when the squad came together for Morita's birthday:

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