FC Porto set three transfer priorities for Farioli | OneFootball

With the start of the season drawing ever closer, FC Porto, like the vast majority of clubs worldwide, remains exposed to market pressures and interest in its players. Even so, André Villas-Boas has already stated publicly that the board’s priority is to hold on to its main assets and, in that way, ensure a competitive squad capable of challenging in every competition the club will take part in.

Francesco Farioli has already submitted, in due time, a dossier to the professional football structure requesting the signing of more reinforcements, in addition to those already presented, namely André Silva and youngsters João Afonso and Norwegian Eirik Grannaas.

After analyzing the final months of last season, the Italian coach concluded that the team needs a left-back to take over as first choice, which could open the exit door at the Dragão, in principle, for either Francisco Moura or Zaidu, since both have a market and any transfer this summer will always depend on the figures put on the table by interested clubs.

One thing is certain: left-back has been a persistent weakness in recent years since Alex Telles left the Dragão, because no player has emerged capable of delivering the competitive level demanded by FC Porto. In this context, several names are being assessed and Francesco Farioli really wants someone who can come straight in and establish himself immediately upon arriving at the Invicta City club. The profile has been identified and negotiations are expected to be concluded in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, despite André Silva’s completed return to FC Porto, the Dragons’ coach is still asking for the signing of another experienced centre-forward, with a goalscoring instinct, capable of helping the team in the various competitions until November, the date pointed to for Samu’s full return to action.

Deniz Gul was at the World Cup with the Turkey national team, but his stock did not rise — quite the opposite. His sale is on the table, not least because in the second half of last season he left much to be desired in the opportunities he had, with the exception of the match against Estrela da Amadora, already in the final stretch of the league campaign, in which he scored two goals, one of them from the penalty spot.

Francesco Farioli’s third priority is the arrival of a player to make up for the absence of Seko Fofana, who arrived in January and was important in the conquest of the blue and whites’ 31st league title, especially because of the goals he scored against Sporting, Famalicão and, in particular, in Braga, where he sealed a hard-fought victory. The Ivory Coast international earns a high salary at Rennes, around six million euros gross, an amount difficult for Porto’s board to sustain. The professional football structure is already working to find a solution. One of the Porto fans’ dreams is Ghana international Caleb Yirenkyi, who continues to raise his value at the World Cup and for whom Nordsjaelland is asking around 30 million euros to release the young African prospect.

There are other names under analysis in Porto’s board offices, but given the potential of the player coached in Ghana by Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz, he would fit perfectly into the central midfield area of Francesco Farioli’s team. The market is highly inflated at this stage and André Villas-Boas is aware of that reality, so FC Porto’s moves will have to be surgical and not on the scale of the investment made last season, which exceeded 100 million euros…

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