He'll face Portugal at the World Cup and was linked with FC Porto | OneFootball

FC Porto could strengthen its midfield with a signing from Spain. Colombian sports journalist Julián Capera revealed on Friday afternoon that the current national champion is one of the clubs monitoring the possible arrival of Gustavo Puerta. The news was reported on the Blog Deportivo program on Colombian radio station Bluradio.

At just 22 years old, the Colombian midfielder was one of the standout players at Racing Santander, a team that, just a few days ago, secured promotion back to La Liga, returning the club to the top tier of Spanish football after several years away.

The situation is complicated, however, because FC Porto is not alone in the race for Gustavo Puerta. According to the same source, Lazio, Bologna, Real Betis and Villarreal are also closely following the situation of the 22-year-old player.

There is, however, one important detail in this potential deal. Last summer, the midfielder was signed from Bayer Leverkusen for €3.5 million, with the Germans retaining 50 percent of the economic rights. As such, the German club would necessarily have to be consulted in the event of a possible departure for Gustavo Puerta, and could also exercise a potential buy-back option on the other half of his registration rights.

Under contract with Racing Santander until June 30, 2029 and with a release clause set at €16 million, Gustavo Puerta — who in Europe has already played for Nuremberg in 2022/23 and Hull City in 2024/25, both on loan from Bayer Leverkusen — recorded three goals and one assist in 33 appearances for the Spanish side in the season that has just ended.

He will be Portugal’s opponent at the 2026 World Cup

At the moment, Gustavo Puerta is part of Colombia’s squad for this summer’s World Cup finals and could even face Portugal in the group stage, as the two national teams meet in the third and final match of Group H.

Puerta, in fact, started last Monday in the friendly between Colombia and Costa Rica, which ended in a 3-1 win for Los Cafeteros, and the expectation is that he will get more minutes against Jordan on Sunday.

Racing Santander, the club that holds the player’s rights, wants to decide the midfielder’s future soon and complete the transfer before the start of the World Cup.

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