“We met UEFA’s criteria”: How FC Porto invested nearly €100m | OneFootball

FC Porto conducted an ambitious and costly market, approaching 100 million – 94.35 million – in an attempt to fill gaps in their squad. Leading the acquisitions is the investment in Froholdt – 20 million – while names like Gabri Veiga, Alberto Costa, and Borja Sainz also demanded amounts over 10 million. Paradoxically to the praise for the signings, questions arose about the ability to overcome financial limitations and the containment measures adopted by the board. In a brief statement, Pereira da Costa, the financial director of FC Porto's SAD, clarifies the premises that underpinned these choices and the internal guarantees associated.

"It comes from the positive results of the 24/25 exercise, with an increase in commercial revenues, involving membership campaigns, annual seats, ticketing and Corporate Hospitality, in addition to containment in wage expenses in the main team and employees, including the Administration," he explained, noting the precious help of the "summer market windows of 2024 and January 2025, which resulted in sales revenues of around 172 million, with only 42M€ reinvested in the squad".

Addressing the factors that significantly increased liquidity, Pereira da Costa points out some concrete measures. "We had the conclusion of the operation of selling 30 percent of the stadium's operation to Ithaka, with a revision of the value from 65 to 100M€, with the first payment rising from 40 to 50M€. Added to this is the issuance of bonds, Dragon Notes, 115M€ at 5.6% of the debt. It was this step that removed treasury difficulties, significantly reducing short-term liabilities," he justified, noting the financial relief that allowed FC Porto to strengthen the squad in search of better results and titles.

"This is a consolidated investment that allows FC Porto to meet UEFA's financial sustainability indicators. But, as occurs in any SAD, it requires sports profitability, whether from UEFA revenues, or financial, which comes from player transactions," warned the financial director, describing a more peaceful financial horizon. "The heavy legacy continues, the debt remains above the ideal for the size of FC Porto. But, currently, it incurs much more manageable costs, as it was refinanced with longer terms and lower costs."

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