“UEFA forces us to make capital gains, so we will have to be active on the market both in purchases and sales”. Words spoken a few days ago by the new president of Porto, André Villas-Boasand which mainly concern Francisco Conceicao. The son of the former coach of the Dragons he could in fact be the one sacrificed to raise money and help the club avoid getting stuck in quicksand.
The request has been known for some time: 30 million, a figure that has been consolidated thanks to the performances of “Chico” with the Portuguese national team at the European Championship that ended on Sunday: the offensive winger found his first goal in the group stage match against the Czech Republic and caused difficulties for CT Martinez, who however did not budge from the starting trident formed by Bernardo Silva, Ronaldo and Leao. So, in the end Conceiçao jr. “settled” for the 90′ against Georgia and playing extra time against Slovenia and France.
Raised in the Sporting youth system, the 2002-born player left Porto in 2022 to move to Ajax; despite a less than happy spell, he returned home on loan a year later and was then bought back for 10.5 million, more than double the amount spent by the Lancers. Juventus are now on his trail, and could take another son of art (after Thuram) to replace another one on the way out, namely Federico Chiesa. The Bianconeri, after giving up on Sancho, could focus on a player who definitely exploded last season: 43 games in all competitions, 8 goals and 8 assists. Imagination, speed and a desire to emerge: Chico is ready to conquer Italy like his father Sergio did.