After a dream summer window, Villas-Boas and Farioli nailed December | OneFootball

FC Porto remain in contention on three fronts at a stage when the season is entering its decisive stretch. Top of the league, with seven more points than Sporting — who still have a game in hand against Tondela — and Benfica, Francesco Farioli’s Dragons successfully came through a March that had looked difficult, largely thanks to a deep squad that was wisely strengthened in the winter transfer window.

While Oskar Pietuszewski’s performances speak for themselves, the contributions of Seko Fofana, Thiago Silva and Terem Moffi have also paid off for an FC Porto side that has managed to maintain good consistency in their displays, despite the constant changes to the starting XI made by Farioli.

Thiago Silva

Signed on a free transfer, Thiago Silva returned to a club he had already represented on loan and also for the B team in 2005. At 41, after fulfilling his wish of returning to Fluminense, the experienced Brazilian centre-back accepted Villas-Boas’ challenge and signed until the end of the season.

So far, he has made eight appearances for the Dragons and has shown that he remains a very consistent and effective centre-back in his actions, with special mention for his debut against Benfica. More recently, against Stuttgart at the Dragão, he played the 1000th match of his career.

Seko Fofana

The Ivorian midfielder arrived at the Dragão on loan from Rennes and has proved to be an important piece, even acting as a game-changing presence. He scored against Sporting and Sp. Braga — in the latter case securing all three points — and was also involved in the move that helped FC Porto beat Arouca.

Fofana has alternated between starting in the Europa League and coming off the bench in the Primeira Liga, providing guaranteed physical strength in Porto’s midfield.

Loaned until the end of the season, staying at the Dragão currently seems unlikely due to his salary.

Oskar Pietuszewski

He is by far the winter signing with the biggest direct impact at FC Porto, with three goals and two assists in his first 10 matches in a Porto shirt.

Pietuszewski overcame the initial doubts with very positive displays, establishing himself as a direct winger capable of creating imbalance and with a strong eye for goal.

In the last five domestic matches — he is not registered for the Europa League — the young Pole only failed to make a difference in the defeat at Alvalade against Sporting in the Portuguese Cup.

Terem Moffi

Rounding off the group of winter signings is Terem Moffi, who has also been a useful option in Farioli’s FC Porto setup. With Samu injured until the end of the season, the most advanced attacking role has alternated between the striker on loan from Nice and Deniz Gul.

Moffi has also been a starting option in Europa League matches and scored in the first leg of the round-of-16 tie against Stuttgart, after already opening his account by putting the final score beyond doubt against Arouca.

For example, Gul’s last goal dates back to 22 January, even before Moffi arrived at the Dragão. It is a detail that clearly reflects the usefulness of the Nigerian striker in the absence of Samu, the team’s main goalscorer.

Villas-Boas is once again reaping rewards from the market

After leading a major squad overhaul last summer, taking on the biggest investment in FC Porto’s history, Villas-Boas appears to have got it right again in the winter window.

Victor Froholdt, Alberto Costa, Gabri Veiga, Borja Sainz, Jan Bednarek, Pablo Rosario and Jakub Kiwior are currently standout names at FC Porto.

On the other hand, Luuk de Jong suffered a serious injury and Dominik Prpic became even more limited with the arrival of veteran Thiago Silva. João Costa is the third-choice goalkeeper in the first team and has justified the faith placed in him whenever called upon by the B team, while Yann Karamoh seems to have been the only less successful case, although he has already featured in two matches for the senior side.

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