Only five survive Rui Borges's revolution at Sporting | OneFootball

About two weeks remain until Sporting return to the Cristiano Ronaldo Academy, in Alcochete, to begin preparations for the 2026/27 season. Given the changes this transfer window could bring, there are few certainties about the final squad Rui Borges will have at his disposal.

Hired to replace João Pereira after a run of poor results, the coach, who has been at Sporting since the end of 2024, faced a “trial by fire” in his very first match. The green-and-whites hosted and beat Benfica 1-0, thanks to a goal from Geny Catamo, which marked the start of their march toward winning back-to-back league titles.

However, in a year and a half, almost everything has changed. From his first-choice starting XI, Franco Israel (to Torino), Jeremiah St. Juste (to Feyenoord), Matheus Reis (to CSKA Moscow), Hidemasa Morita (contract expired), Geovany Quenda (to Chelsea) and Viktor Gyökeres (to Arsenal) have already left. On the bench were Conrad Harder (to Leipzig), Vladan Kovacevic (to Norwich City), Henrique Arreiol (to Legia Warsaw) and Marcus Edwards (to Burnley).

At the moment, the only ones to have weathered this revolution are Eduardo Quaresma, Ousmane Diomande, Morten Hjulmand, Geny Catamo and Francisco Trincão, along with substitutes Iván Fresneda, Zeno Debast, Maxi Araújo, João Simões and Mauro Couto.

Even so, this summer transfer window is expected to shake up the Lions’ structure even further. With €60 million already invested, Rodrigo Zalazar, Issa Doumbia, Silas Andersen and Pedro Lima are confirmed signings, and it will most likely not stop there. In the opposite direction, many players are not part of Rui Borges’s plans. Morten Hjulmand too - almost certain to leave the squad - is expected to force the Sporting hierarchy back into the market.

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