Sport
Opinion
Opinion by João Rosado. The lions’ market options do not take into account the true gap that is open.
Sporting CP
With three players valued at over 100 million euros and three who could be considered the best in the world in three years, PSG will parade the European champions tonight in Alvalade and perhaps offer Gonçalo Ramos an unprecedented presence in the starting eleven.
The Portuguese forward, with regard to this edition of the Champions Leaguenever deserved to start, having scored two goals in the five games in which he came off the bench. And if Dembélé (who was awarded the Ballon d’Or and The Best award), Vitinha and Nuno Mendes could compete among themselves for the podium of the best of the best, Gonçalo could claim without much discussion the status of the best… substitute in the universe.
Aurelien Morissard
In the European Super Cup, in the French Cup final, in the French championship and while playing for Portugal, the former Benfica striker collects decisive shots as a secret weapon, to use the terminology of the time when PSG was far from imagining that its wealth could be worthy of a unicorn.
According to “Transfermarkt”, the runner-up in Ligue 1 has assets that represent a difference of one billion euros to the championship leader, an unbelievable Lens confined to a “measly” 115 million euros in terms of the total value of the squad. Vitinha and João Neves (both with a price of 110 million), alone, represent almost as much as all Lens footballers and more than double the price (50 million) of Morten Hjulmand, the most valuable member under Rui Borges.
Ana Brigida
Valued at 50 million euros, the captain is the big absentee in the reception to the Parisians and will, by all indications, be the big absentee in Sporting’s 2026-27 version, and it is no secret that Frederico Varandas has committed to facilitating the Dane’s departure in the next transfer window. Taking precisely into account this (announced) nuclear operation in the lions’ sporting project, the current market options reflect a criterion that is difficult to understand, no matter how demanding the clinical department is.
Instead of saving as much as possible in order to hire a player who, in the medium term, would be able to feed the idea of a replacement worthy of Hjulmand, the administration once again invested in the Spanish second tier and in an athlete who was unable to find space in the demanding level of the Premier League. Without calling into question the skills of Souleymane Faye and Luís Guilherme, it is too risky to think that the 20 million euros spent at this time by the two (6.5 million for Granada and 14 million for West Ham) will have an effective return on the sports field, as if these two young people did not even need time to adapt to the team and the specificities of Portuguese football.
Seven points behind FC Porto and with a trip to Dragão scheduled for the beginning of February, the two-time national champions, much like their neighbor and rival Benfica, find themselves in a delicate situation that recommends another strategy if the plan really is to keep the dream of a third championship alive. If it is impossible to open the purse strings to acquire renowned disruptors capable of making a difference, it would be wiser to believe in the promises that continue to be evident in the formation (Mauro Couto and Flávio Gonçalves in the wake of Salvador Blopa, without forgetting the “old” reinforcement Alisson Santos…) while stars such as Quenda, Pedro Gonçalves, Nuno Santos or Ioannidis wait for a full recovery.
Whatever it meant to channel such efforts into taking care of Morten Hjulmand’s difficult succession (with Hidemasa Morita also at the exit door) was more appropriate for a Sporting team that thus surrenders itself to the prospect of Faye and Guilherme, from today to tomorrow, proving to be undisputed starters or, at the very least, luxury substitutes. If any of these cases are confirmed, Varandas I would have to do a great job of thanking the prospecting department, “peut-être” accompanied by a… Bouquet of flowers.
