Rodrigo Mora could break Porto’s century-old record against Nice or Estoril | OneFootball

Whether it's this Thursday against Nice, the following Sunday against Estoril, or even in the League Cup against V. Guimarães, Rodrigo Mora is preparing to inscribe his name in the centenary history of FC Porto. The young prodigy who captivates the Dragão crowd with his dribbles and, above all, with signature goals – like the one recently scored against Sintrense – is one match away from becoming the youngest player in the club's history to reach 50 appearances, surpassing the record of Rúben Neves, currently at Al Hilal and rumored to possibly return to FC Porto next season. Mora will be 18 years, six months, and 22 days old when the team hosts the former club of Francesco Farioli in the Europa League, making him two months younger than Rúben Neves when he reached fifty matches in blue and white. Serafim and Fernando Gomes, both forwards, complete the podium of the youngest players.

Interestingly, this milestone is only possible because, in the summer, Mora did not end up becoming a direct competitor of Rúben Neves. Al Ittihad made an offer of 50 million euros, but Villas-Boas demanded 70 million, and the Arabs eventually abandoned the negotiations. We're talking about an athlete who had just reached adulthood at that time. A year ago, around this time, Mora had only seven appearances in FC Porto's first team – 125 minutes on the field – and one goal against Aves. His breakthrough began shortly after, in December 2024, still under the command of Vítor Bruno. However, it was with Martín Anselmi that he gained more prominence in a team that was falling short of expectations at the time. Mora stood out and scored high-level goals, which elevated his status. Later, Francesco Farioli sought to moderate expectations, favoring a measured growth without rushing the creative's development. The young player would return to being a frequent option on the bench but remains a regular choice for the Italian coach: 14 games, five of which as a starter, and several high-level performances.

Last Saturday, he came on thirty minutes before the end and once again ignited the Dragão with a curling shot into the far top corner, as has become customary, almost as if he ignored easy goals. “I've been working on both feet, at the end of training sessions I practice finishing with both feet and in this game it paid off,” said Mora, explaining that those moments of magic are not just due to the talent he was born with.

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