Portuguese Football in English
Portugal midfielder João Mário officially departed Benfica on Wednesday, signing for Turkish giants Besiktas on a loan deal with a mandatory purchase clause of €5m.
In a heartfelt and elaborate interview on his way out, the Euro 2016 winner admitted that whilst he enjoyed the best period of his career with the club, the circumstances surrounding his exit leave him a little disappointed.
The end of the transfer window inevitably brings a flurry of late activity in the market, and Portuguese footballers are typically well represented as they take on new challenges abroad.
While the likes of João Cancelo and João Félix dominated much of the coverage with their moves to Saudi Arabia and England respectively, @SeanGillen9 takes a look at the full rundown of all the Portuguese who switched clubs during the last few weeks of the window.
Paulo Fonseca is not enjoying the smoothest start to life as AC Milan manager, with the Portuguese having to deal with irritating side issues after a winless first three match.
The Rossoneri have drawn two and lost one of their opening matches, leaving them in the bottom third of the Serie A standings heading into the international break. Rafael Leão salvaged a point in a 2-2 draw at Lazio on Saturday, but the Seleção man was also part of a unnecessary side drama picked up by the Italian media.
Portuguese attacker Jota Silva made quite the impression on his first start for new club Nottingham Forest, scoring in their League Cup clash with Newcastle United on Wednesday.
Having made his Premier League debut as a substitute in stoppage time at the end of Forest’s victory over Southampton at the weekend, Jota was handed his full debut by Nuno Espírito Santo against the Magpies, who progressed at Forest’s expense via penalties at the City Ground.
Portugal international João Cancelo has become the latest Seleção star to join the Saudi Pro League, signing for reigning champions Al Hilal from Manchester City.
Al Hilal have reportedly paid €25m to add Cancelo to Jorge Jesus’ squad, where he will team up with international colleague Rúben Neves at Kingdom Arena.
