Sporting hunted for a new centre-back because of... Eduardo Quaresma | OneFootball

Sporting experienced a relatively calm winter transfer window, so much so that they officially signed Luís Guilherme in the first days of January and reached an agreement for Souleymane Faye a week and a half before the last day. But the Lions almost strengthened the squad with a new central defender due to Eduardo Quaresma's injury.

The impactful setback for the young defender, suffered against Vitória de Guimarães on January 6th in the Allianz Cup, following a violent collision with the Guimarães player Samu, forced Quaresma to be hospitalized. The initial signs were very negative, with suspicions of a jaw fracture, and indicated a prolonged absence that could last up to three months.

Zeno Debast (injury) and Ousmane Diomande (serving with Ivory Coast in the African Cup of Nations) were also not options, leaving Gonçalo Inácio as the only natural central defender available in the main team. For this reason, in the hours following the game in Leiria and the next morning, the management was in constant contact and decided to move forward with signing another central defender, according to the newspaper 'Record'.

However, the observation and tests Quaresma underwent at the hospital ended up ruling out the more serious scenario and identified "only" an injury to the zygomatic bone on the left side of his face, which shortened the recovery period from months to three to four weeks. This good news consequently eliminated the urgency for the Lions in the market. Quaresma eventually returned to competition with a mask on January 28th against Athletic Bilbao.

Eduardo Quaresma - valued at 15 million euros - has accumulated 1,214 minutes in 17 matches for Sporting, with one goal scored and two assists to his name. The player has already won three National Championships, one Portuguese Cup, and one League Cup.

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