PortuGOAL Figure of the Week: dream debut for Sporting CP’s Ricardo Mangas | OneFootball

Ricardo Mangas put in a man-of-the-match display for Sporting against Arouca - on his full debut and first home game for the Lions. (Photo: Arlindo Homen ©)

No Gyökeres? No problem. Back-to-back champions Sporting Clube de Portugal emphatically underlined their intent for the three-peat with a 6-0 demolition of Arouca.

One of three players to score a brace in the game was Ricardo Luís Chaby Mangas.

Viktor Gyokeres was fined over €300,000 for refusing to train and travel with the squad to the Algarve for pre-season training.

For an initial fee of exactly €300,000, Spartak Moscow parted ways with the 27-year-old left-back who is already paying dividends to Os Leões.

Fellow summer signings Giorgios Vagiannidis and Luis Javier Suárez played crucial roles in assisting Mangas, who has immediately showed the impact he can have in the final third and as a viable back-up for the injured Maxi Araújo, Nuno Santos and suspended Matheus Reis.

Kevin Fernandes brings us the story of the latest PortuGOAL Figure of the Week, Ricardo Mangas.

Born in Olhão, in the south of Portugal, Ricardo’s career commenced at the age of seven. Mangas would float around local sides before being poached by Sport Lisboa e Benfica in 2010, where he would spend the majority of his formative years and earn 16 caps for Portugal’s Under-16s and Under-17s.

It seems, however, that destiny dictated that he would eventually play in green and white.

Sporting manager Rui Borges has managed Ricardo Mangas previously both at Mirandela and Vitória SC, the latter arguably Mangas’ most successful period of his senior, professional career.

Mangas, who played mostly as a left winger, started with four goals and two assists in ten games for Vitória. Two million euros paid immediately was irrefusable given the delicate financial situation of the club from Guimarães, despite their promising start to the 2024/25 campaign.

The Luso-Angolan left-footer also won two titles at U-23 level for Desportivo das Aves before moving to Boavista – two clubs involved in major recent events impacting Portuguese football. It was a very respectable domestic career before the disappointing Russian adventure, where vying for minutes alongside Oleg Reabciuk (ex-FC Porto and Paços de Ferreira) proved difficult.

“I live 24 hours a day for football and anyone who knows me knows that’s how I am. When my chance comes, I know I’ll be ready,” said Mangas in an interview with MaisFutebol.

Mangas may have been purchased for an insignificant fee, but he clearly isn’t content with being seen as a mere squad player.

“Ricardo was an exemplary player, both on and off the pitch. A great professional,” says Leandro Pires, the current assistant coach at Santa Clara, who worked with Mangas at Aves. “He was very strong offensively, liked to get involved a lot in these phases, crossing well and getting into the box. Perhaps that’s why he played further forward at Vitória SC. Physically, he’s one of the best I’ve ever worked with.”

In Ricardo Mangas, Sporting have gained a versatile emergency player with great attacking instincts and an excellent mentality to integrate into the dressing room.

Long-standing Borges link

He is relatively experienced, content with fighting for minutes and an overall impeccable professional to elevate and maintain the standards required by someone he’s very familiar with in Rui Borges, who coached the player at both Mirandela and Vitória before reuniting with him at Alvalade.

Mangas shines when attacking space or playing short combinations. Without being the most technical footballer or astute defender, his work rate and intensity usually compensate for evident downfalls.

Not the flashiest footballer ever (apart from his unique appearance and social media presence), but Liga Portugal’s biggest surprise package thus far, and exactly the type of personality that every squad needs.

Liga Portugal 2025/2026 is already creating great stories. One of them is Ricardo Mangas, PortuGOAL’s latest Figure of the Week.