Eirik Granaas wins over FC Porto: “He left everyone stunned” | OneFootball

FC Porto continue to bet on young talents and, after paying Santa Clara €1.5 million, plus €500,000 in bonuses, for 19-year-old João Afonso, they have now invested €1.8 million — a figure that could rise to €3.3 million depending on objectives being met — to secure 16-year-old Eirik Granaas from Fredrikstad.

Norwegian journalist Martin Bjerke closely followed the midfielder’s development over the last year and, speaking to newspaper O Jogo in this Monday’s edition, explained the qualities that led the board headed by André Villas-Boas to move forward with his signing.

“He is very mature for his age, has his head in the right place, and that will help him guide his career in the right direction. His older brother [Sondre] plays for Molde, and his father [Lars] made more than 300 appearances in his football career,” he began, referring to the player regarded as one of the biggest Scandinavian ‘diamonds’ of today.

“He is the perfect example of a modern midfielder. He can play in several positions in the center of the pitch, further forward or deeper. His passing ability and vision are what make him a truly special talent. He can spot spaces and players with passing lanes in a way that cannot be taught — he was born with it,” he continued.

“He was immediately called up to the first team for the pre-season training camp in Spain (…). He left everyone amazed by the ability he showed,” he concluded.

FC Porto moved early

FC Porto’s investment in Eirik Granaas was significant, especially considering that the midfielder has only 14 official senior appearances, the first of which came on June 22, 2026, when Andreas Hagen brought him on in place of Rocco Shein near the end of Fredrikstad’s 3-0 defeat away to Viking.

In that match, he became the youngest player ever to feature in the Eliteserien, at just 15 years old, beating the record of Martin Odegaard, current Arsenal captain, by 27 days. That mark, however, was later surpassed in March by Gabriel Rajkovic, a forward for Valerenga.

Although he was only on the pitch for around ten minutes, he showed more than enough signs to catch the attention of the Dragons, who from then on began to monitor him constantly. Even so, they were not the only interested party, as the player was also on the radar of clubs from Belgium — especially Club Brugge — as well as Germany and England.

Faced with the growing interest surrounding Eirik Granaas, the officials of the new national champions decided to act early and secure a reinforcement for the midfield of the squad coached by Italian manager Francesco Farioli, who, in an initial phase, will work under João Brandão’s orders in the B team.

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