João Afonso had been on FC Porto's radar since under-15 level | OneFootball

At a time when FC Porto’s market activity has been dominated by reports about signing a striker – or even several – the Dragons have already secured their first addition for 2026/27. The move for young goalkeeper João Afonso caught many by surprise, but the blue-and-white side had been following the Santa Clara player for quite some time.

The account comes from Nuno Pimentel, a former coach in Porto’s youth setup who, interestingly, would later go on to coach the young Portuguese international in the Azores. “I first came across João when I was coaching FC Porto’s U15s. He was still playing for São Roque, but even then I really liked him and the personality he has. He played against us and showed a lot of potential and character. I recommended to FC Porto that they sign him, but things didn’t move forward and the transfer ultimately didn’t happen,” the current coach of Al Fayha’s U21 team in Saudi Arabia told A BOLA.

“Later, when I went to Santa Clara [in 2022/23] with Mário Silva, he was already there and started training with the first team at 15. When I took over the U23s and the B team, I gave him his debut in Liga Revelação at 16. He was certainly one of the youngest players to feature in the competition,” added Pimentel, “very happy” to see his former pupil join “a big club.”

João Afonso’s precociousness was recognized early on by Santa Clara’s football structure, which quickly labelled him an “elite talent.” “When the U23 project was launched, João was immediately identified as a player with the potential to reach the first team in the short term. He went through an individualized development process, both on the pitch and in the gym, with a gradual introduction to competition through Liga Revelação. So he was always working with a great goalkeeper, Gabriel Batista, but there was that personalized monitoring from the coaches and the entire Santa Clara structure. The aim was to create the best possible conditions for him so that he would be ready to reach higher levels in the shortest time possible,” detailed Nuno Pimentel, for whom it is “always special” to speak about “a boy who inspires great affection.”

Called up to Portugal’s youth teams – he is among the U20 players selected for the Maurice Revello Tournament – João Afonso now appears as a possible long-term successor to Diogo Costa, both at FC Porto and in the national team. “Making the necessary allowances, I’ll even say that I saw a successor to Diogo there. They have very similar profiles and João shows very special charisma: he is very cheerful, brings people together and creates an excellent atmosphere. He is developing leadership traits, not only on the pitch through communication, but also because he takes part in every moment of the game. He is intelligent and perceptive, has a very good passing game and contributes to the attacking process. He has already shown enormous potential and may already be a goalkeeper ready for great heights. And in terms of the future, there is someone there who is ready for the very top at world level,” concluded the coach, confident in a promising future for the Dragons’ new signing.

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