Villas-Boas on Porto’s Spanish trio: “Samu, Gabri, Borja are Porto” | OneFootball

André Villas-Boas, in an interview with the newspaper “Marca,” clarified FC Porto’s interest in Samu, Borja Sainz and Gabri Veiga, stressing that all three emerged as “market opportunities” at the right time.

Samu, the president explained, came onto the dragons’ radar because of his “speed and energy,” and signing him required a swift decision. “It was an important deal that we had to close within 24 hours. Samu has been an incredible signing, not only as a footballer, because of his speed, strength and physical presence, but also as a human being. He is young and has a lot of charisma and energy. At the moment he is injured and we miss him. I think it is also a great loss for Spain, because he has a lot of talent,” he said, when addressing the possibility of the Porto striker being called up for the 2026 World Cup.

Borja Sainz’s “explosion” at Norwich in England, where he scored 19 goals and provided four assists in 43 matches last season, left the dragons’ scouts in no doubt.

“Borja had an excellent season at Norwich, caught the attention of our scouts and we decided to sign him. He went through a very difficult time with the death of his mother, but he has already returned to his best form. He is a player we like, he represents the spirit of FC Porto and we believe he can be successful here,” said Villas-Boas, adding that the “excellent level” shown by Gabri Veiga at Al Ahli Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, made it clear that there was a need to bring him into the midfield.

“Gabri is a player we felt had to come to Porto. Not only because it is close to Vigo, but because of his stature and talent. He is at an excellent level. I think he is having his best season in statistical terms: goals, assists... He wanted to take another step in Europe and the fact that we managed to bring him from Saudi Arabia was fantastic. We believe in him and we are confident that he could play in the World Cup for Spain. I am sure that, even if he has not been called up to the senior national team, that is also something he dreams of,” said Villas-Boas.

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