Spanish newspaper MARCA ran a feature on Portuguese U21 international Dário Essugo on Wednesday, touting the on-loan Sporting youngster as “the midfielder of the future”.

Essugo is currently on a season-long deal at Las Palmas, but according to the Madrid-based publication there is widespread expectation that Europe’s biggest clubs will contest his signature next summer.

• Paulinho
• Liga MX

Paulinho has only been in Mexican football for less than half a year, but the Portuguese has already made himself one of the biggest stars of the Liga MX with Toluca

The former Braga and Sporting striker is the top goalscorer heading into the play-offs with 13 so far, putting him four goals clear of Cruz Azul’s Ángel Sepúlveda in second place. Most important for Paulinho, however, is to secure the title for Renato Paiva’s side.

One of the latest Portuguese to land in the Premier League is Nottingham Forest attacker Jota Silva, who has already had some bright moments during the early stages of his career in England.

Speaking at the Quinas de Ouro awards in Lisbon on Monday evening, Jota Silva admitted that his rise to what is widely considered the best league in the world is something he could scarcely have imagined a few years ago.

Rafael Leão, Pedro Neto and Bruno Fernandes led the way this week with goals for AC Milan and Manchester United respectively, while there were also Portuguese strikes in the major leagues for Fábio Silva in Spain’s La Liga and Tiago Tomás in the German Bundesliga.

Elsewhere, Seleção internationals Pizzi and Gelson Martins got their names on the scoresheet, while there was a hat-trick for Miguel Campos in Ukraine.