Can Samu hold on? Old hand leads FC Porto attack overhaul | OneFootball

André Silva is very close to becoming an FC Porto signing, preparing to return ‘home’ nine years after leaving the Dragão to sign for AC Milan. The Portuguese striker, now 30, will return more experienced, but he is unlikely to be the only new face in an attack that FC Porto want to rebuild for the 2026/27 season.

With the departures of Terem Moffi (returned to Nice) and Luuk de Jong (did not renew his contract) already confirmed, André Villas-Boas and Francesco Farioli continue to work on the area that caused the most problems last season, with only one certainty: Samu is the only one guaranteed a place for the new campaign.

This is because Deniz Gul could also leave FC Porto in the summer transfer window, with Turkish side Galatasaray among the main interested clubs. The 21-year-old forward has already spent a season and a half wearing the dragons’ shirt, but he never established himself as a starter for the blue and whites, although he was useful as a second option, even if his numbers are far from extraordinary (nine goals in 67 matches).

Gul will be at the 2026 World Cup and could therefore put himself in the shop window on football’s biggest stage, while FC Porto could also see his value rise, allowing them to make a bigger profit in a potential sale.

Signed at the start of 2025 from Swedish side Hammarby for less than five million euros, Deniz Gul could leave FC Porto and move elsewhere, making the prospect of an almost total overhaul in attack even more evident.

In the season that has just ended for FC Porto, the attack was a constant source of concern. Luuk de Jong, a surprise signing in the summer window, got injured in the opening weeks of 2025/26, while Samu also suffered a serious injury that ruled him out for the rest of the season, as well as a possible appearance at the 2026 World Cup.

That left Deniz Gul and Moffi, the latter signed in the winter market to make up for the absence of the two forwards, but neither managed to match Samu’s scoring record, which is now leading to a deeper change up front that the dragons want to present in 2026/27, a season in which they will have to defend the national title and return to the elite of European football – in other words, the Champions League.

What has changed in 10 years for André Silva?

André Silva will therefore be the ‘familiar face’ serving as the starting point for the revolution planned by Farioli and Villas-Boas, though he will still need to deliver performances (and goals) to earn his place in FC Porto’s starting XI. The striker from Baguim do Monte, Rio Tinto, is coming off a positive season with Elche, having scored 10 goals (all in La Liga) in 32 matches and becoming the first player from the club in the province of Alicante to reach double figures since Jonathas de Jesus in 2014/15.

His strong performances for Elche also put André Silva back on the national team radar ahead of the 2026 World Cup, but the national coach preferred to call up a more mobile third forward (Gonçalo Guedes), leaving out out-and-out strikers such as André Silva himself or Paulinho.

Before his spell at Elche, which is now coming to an end, André Silva spent the last decade between highs and lows, playing in Italy, Germany and Spain.

In 2016 he left FC Porto to sign for AC Milan, who paid almost 40 million for him, but the adventure in Milan lasted just one season, after which he was loaned to Sevilla the following year.

That was followed by a spell at Eintracht Frankfurt, where he enjoyed the best numbers of his career in 2020/2021, with 29 goals and seven assists in just 34 matches, before moving to RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021.

After two seasons with the Red Bull side, the Portugal international was first loaned to Real Sociedad, then returned to Leipzig for half a season, before being loaned out again, remaining in the Bundesliga to represent Werder Bremen.

Last summer, he parted ways with RB Leipzig and agreed to return to Spain to play for Elche, signing a one-year contract with an option. Now, the path is clear for him to return to the Dragão almost a decade after leaving, with everything agreed between the parties, according to information gathered by Desporto ao Minuto.

Time to ‘fatten up’ the goal tally

André Silva’s last match in an FC Porto shirt dates back to May 21, 2017, when the dragons lost away to Moreirense (1-3) on the final matchday of the Primeira Liga. The Portuguese forward started on the bench but was brought on by Nuno Espírito Santo at half-time, though he was still unable to prevent FC Porto’s defeat, as they finished in second place, six points behind champions Benfica.

Meanwhile, André Silva’s last goal for Porto had come in the previous round, against Paços de Ferreira (4-1), when he once again came off the bench to seal FC Porto’s win by converting a penalty.

In total, during his first spell at FC Porto, André Silva scored 24 goals in 58 matches, and now has a second opportunity to improve on those numbers.

It is also worth noting that he will reunite with João Costa, the only player who was part of Porto’s squad in 2016/17 and is now under Farioli’s command.

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