2017/2018 Portuguese Abroad: Italy

As the summer transfer window dust begins to settle, European teams can finally nestle into their seasons with their filled out rosters. With 16 of the 23 members who made up Portugal’s Confederations Cup squad playing their trade outside of Portugal, it is imperative that the Portuguese abroad have a strong season as the team prepares for the World Cup next summer. For this fifth and final installment, Portuguese playing in Italy will be highlighted. To see an updated list of all Portuguese players playing abroad, visit out Portuguese Players Abroad page.

2017/2018 Portuguese Abroad: France

As the summer transfer window dust begins to settle, European teams can finally nestle into their seasons with their filled out rosters. With 16 of the 23 members who made up Portugal’s Confederations Cup squad playing their trade outside of Portugal, it is imperative that the Portuguese abroad have a strong season as the team prepares for the World Cup next summer. For this fourth installment, Portuguese playing in France will be highlighted. To see an updated list of all Portuguese players playing abroad, visit out Portuguese Players Abroad page.

2017/2018 Portuguese Abroad: Germany

As the summer transfer window dust begins to settle, European teams can finally nestle into their seasons with their filled out rosters. With 16 of the 23 members who made up Portugal’s Confederations Cup squad playing their trade outside of Portugal, it is imperative that the Portuguese abroad have a strong season as the team prepares for the World Cup next summer. For this third installment, Portuguese playing in Germany will be highlighted. To see an updated list of all Portuguese players playing abroad, visit out Portuguese Players Abroad page.

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2017/2018 Portuguese Abroad: England

Photo: Manchester City

As the summer transfer window dust begins to settle, European teams can finally nestle into their seasons with their filled out rosters. With 16 of the 23 members who made up Portugal’s Confederations Cup squad playing their trade outside of Portugal, it is imperative that the Portuguese abroad have a strong season as the team prepares for the World Cup next summer. For this second installment, Portuguese playing in England will be highlighted. To see an updated list of all Portuguese players playing abroad, visit out Portuguese Players Abroad page.

2017/2018 Portuguese Abroad: Spain

As the summer transfer window dust begins to settle, European teams can finally nestle into their seasons with their filled out rosters. With 16 of the 23 members who made up Portugal’s Confederations Cup squad playing their trade outside of Portugal, it is imperative that the Portuguese abroad have a strong season as the team prepares for the World Cup next summer. For this first installment, Portuguese playing in Spain will be highlighted. To see an updated list of all Portuguese players playing abroad, visit out Portuguese Players Abroad page.

2017/2018 Season Preview: Vitória S.C.

Can Pedro Martins build off of his success last season? Photo: Maisfutebol

In the second installment of our five-part Season Preview series, Rui Miguel Martins (@futebolfactory) assesses Vitória Guimarães for the upcoming season. To see more of Rui Miguel Martins’ work, go to his website futebolfactory.com. 

What’s Next for Cristiano Ronaldo?

Cristiano Ronaldo is the name on the lips of all Portuguese fans, almost all of the time. Perhaps the greatest ever footballer, Ronaldo is certainly the greatest Portuguese player ever to grace the game. With the forward not getting any younger, rumors and speculation on his future are numerous and growing. And with this summer’s near-transfer saga, speculation is rife. Guest contributor Joshua Bunting gives us his take on Ronaldo’s future.

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Grading Two Years of Portuguese Departures

It is inevitable.  Emerging Portuguese talent in Liga NOS really only see one option if they want to blossom into the best player possible: leave Portugal for greener ($$) pastures.  It is hard to argue with them; as England, France, Spain, Germany and Italy can offer tougher competition, European glory, extra exposure, and of course, more money.  Still, knowing when to go, and where to go, become the ultimate factor in determining your success as a player.  As we have seen, some players leave Portugal and become world greats, while others leave Portugal and become forgotten.  Let us take a look at five recent Portuguese departures, and how the move has worked for them.

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Sporting CP Making Moves

With preseason upon us, many Portuguese teams are already in the thick of squad formation. The transfer window has been open for not even two weeks and already, big moves have been made. Sporting CP, one of Portugal’s “Big Three,” have been active already this window. With his take on the transfer window is guest contributor, Joshua Bunting (Twitter: @Distillerymad).

Jorge Jesus has been busy already this summer strengthening his Sporting Lisbon side. The former Benfica manager has brought in Portuguese defender Fábio Coentrão and Frenchman Jérémy Mathieu. Jesus is clearly focusing on defence first and foremost with the signings and what a signing Coentrão could prove to be on loan from Real Madrid. Coentrão however said in a press conference that he would never play for former club Benfica’s biggest rivals, which led to abuse on his twitter account. However, this is the time now for the left-back to get his place back in the national team and impress Zidane ahead on the 2018-19 season to provide competition for Marcelo. The only doubt with Coentrão is his injury record as he only made 106 appearances for the current Spanish champions however the more concerning stat is that he’s played just 25 times in the last two seasons. 

André Silva: Fail or Flourish?

This summer’s Confederations Cup confirmed what Portuguese football fans had hoped for some time: Portugal finally has a quality striker. In André Silva, Portugal has an intelligent, skillful player with maturity well beyond his young age. Skilled both in the air and with the ball at his feet, André Silva’s presence on the field clearly improves the Seleção’s play, and helps ease the goal-scoring burden from Cristiano Ronaldo.

After a successful debut 2016/2017 season at FC Porto, Silva made a big-money move to Italian giants AC Milan, a team in the midst of a massive squad overhaul. While it is exciting to see a young Portuguese prospect the subject of a monumental move to a major European team, the question always arises: Is it too soon? In this article, I will compare André Silva’s career trajectory to that of another young, promising Portuguese, Porto-bred striker in recent history: Hélder Postiga.