Three hundred million euros in three years: how Porto got the goose that lays golden eggs in Europe

When it comes to focusing on the youth categories of the big European teams, many might think of Barcelona’s or Real Madrid’s famous “Masía” and its star-forming machine, but one of the institutions that has best managed its underlings in recent times. years: Porto, of the Primeira Liga de Portugal, have been able to exploit their youth sector.

Custódio Pinto, Bruno Alves or Deco are some of the names that have highlighted the formative work of the Portuguese cast throughout history. But not all the strategies of the Portuguese go through this sector, since in Porto they also bet on their Scouting Department. Many times, clubs are not lucky enough to produce stars and this is where the scouts come into play.

Scouts have the task of looking for new talents around the world, and then integrating them. In the case of Porto, this body is composed of Antonio André, Carlos Pintado and Nelson Oliveira. How do these three names coincide? All of them knew how to be coaches and today they are part of one of the most important Scouting Departments in Europe.

The figures are overwhelming. Porto have received more than € 300m in the past five seasons, some numbers with which it clearly dominates at national level, but which are also enough to be a record for the entire continent. The curious thing is that when you review the 10 most important sales of these five seasons, just half correspond to players from the youth categories.

Fabio Silva, Andre Silva, Ruben Neves, Fabio Vieira and Diogo Dalotthose who trained in the club. Militao, Luis Diaz, Ricardo Pereira, Felipe and Alex Tellesinstead, they were the work of scouting. And another peculiarity compared to these last five concerns the fact that the vast majority started their careers in South American football. For the Porto scouts, the strategy is to focus on Latinos.

And another fact that Dragões fans can be proud of has to do with the leagues they export their players to. And it is that Real Madrid, Atlético de Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester United and AC Milan have been tasked with monopolizing much of Porto’s sales in recent times. Indeed, with the whole summer ahead of them, the Portuguese club has already sold Fábio Vieira for 35 million euros. Your fate? The Arsenal of England.

Now, if one thing is clear, it is that Porto has been able to manage its tools very well to fight other big Europeans who, from an economic point of view, will always be above. But this is not exclusive to a club, but rather to a league. In the case of Porto, we can add, for example, their biggest rival, Benfica. The Lisbon cast is no exception, and has sold for € 1,233m since the 2010/11 season.

Joao Felix, Darwin Nunez, Di Maria. Some of the names that are part of the Benfica list, a club that has a more than transparent business model. The idea? As simple as buying low and selling highsomething made possible thanks to the intervention of the scouts, who once again set their sights on Latin American football, and more precisely on Brazil and Argentina.

At Sporting Lisbon, the sales of Bruno Fernandes, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo, among others, confirm that what is happening in Portugal is no accident. The giants of Europe have already noticed this, and a clear example is Paris Saint Germain, which despite the twists and turns is about to close an agreement with the Portuguese Luis Campos, the most coveted sporting director of the old continent.

But if there is something that differentiates Porto from the competition it is that in recent seasons they have been able to manage the times better. And for this reason, although he constantly sold, he was able to fight on all fronts, remaining in the national team with three championships, two Cups and two other Super Cups. And on an international level, moreover, he managed to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League in his last two appearances.

Thus, with Porto in the lead, Portuguese football is teaching how to compete against the great economic powers, hand in hand with scouting and working with the inferiors. Indeed, in this sense the results are overwhelming. And if we focus on the last three European Under 19 Championships, we can see that Portugal have amassed one title and two runners-up.

But looking to the next seasons, Porto know that they must take flight, and after the feat of 2004 – they won the Champions League at the hands of Mourinho -, they must return to give a shot of authority that shows that in football they do not always win. who has more money. Already classified for the 2022-23 edition, the Dragões will go for the bump after the World Cup.