José Boto on Froholdt: “He impresses me, he's off to the English league” | OneFootball

José Boto appeared on the program ‘Futebol Total’ on Canal 11, where he analyzed Portuguese football, highlighting FC Porto as the undefeated leader of the Primeira Liga, with a five-point advantage over the two-time champion Sporting and eight over Benfica.

The current football director of Flamengo, Brazilian champion and Libertadores winner, began by praising the signings made by the blue and white SAD, presided over by André Villas-Boas, during the last summer, and revealed some information about players he was already familiar with.

“I already knew some players, some had even been on my radar. The one who scored two goals for FC Porto against Alverca [Borja Sainz]. I knew him well, I had tried to bring him to Flamengo. It doesn’t surprise me because I already knew him,” admitted the director, also mentioning Victor Froholdt, recently elected Talent and Footballer of the Year 2025 in Denmark.

“He impresses me, he’s a player destined for greater things, I don’t think he’ll stay here at FC Porto for long, honestly. I think he’ll go to the English league, for sure, to one of the big clubs, because he has those characteristics. He was a player I didn’t know that well and he impressed me.”

“Honestly, I really liked FC Porto’s transfer window. Knowing Farioli’s ideas, the players they brought in were perfectly adaptable to the coach’s philosophy. Benfica’s also seemed good to me, some players I know well. I don’t know if they’ll adapt to the ideas, because it wasn’t Mourinho who put the squad together, it was for Bruno Lage. Although he has the ability to adapt players to his ideas. Sporting keeping some of its structure was important, but losing a player [Gyokeres] who scores so many goals will definitely have an impact. But in terms of the transfer market, from the outside, FC Porto’s seemed the strongest to me,” he said.

As for Flamengo, Boto criticized the demanding schedule, which reached 78 games over the season, and made strong comments about the toll of such competitive density.

“It’s a competitive density that no one can imagine, games every three days, without time to rest or train. It’s a huge psychological strain for us and for the players. I really admire Abel Ferreira [Palmeiras coach], who’s been able to handle it for five years. Leonardo [former Cruzeiro coach] said right away that he couldn’t take it. It’s enormous pressure, from the fans, from the media, you have to be very strong mentally. In game 78 [Intercontinental Cup final] I told Filipe Luís that we’d be going on vacation and on the 10th we’d have to return because the Brasileirão starts on January 28. You don’t even have time to enjoy the victories we achieved. That doesn’t happen in Europe, it’s much milder than over there.”

Without guaranteeing his continuity in the position, he also spoke about Filipe Luís and the ongoing negotiations for the coach’s contract renewal.

“It was the best decision I had to make. He had no experience, but after some conversations I saw he had something special. He’s someone very well prepared. I see similarities with Roberto De Zerbi (current Marseille coach), someone who lives for this 24 hours a day, very studious. I think the negotiations will reach a good conclusion, he’s at a club that allows him to compete for titles and, perhaps, he won’t have that in Europe. In the Brazilian context, he’s clearly the coach best prepared to have a high-level career in Europe,” he assured.

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