A few days ago, I wrote a post about FC Porto's current state, and in the comments, I had an exchange of ideas that led me to analyze FC Porto's most significant transfers from 2004 to 2024.
The following table shows the most significant transfers by season.
| Seasson | Player | Nationality | To | Value (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004/2005 | Derlei | Brazil | Dynamo Moscow | 7.500.000 |
| 2004/2005 | Carlos Alberto | Brazil | Corinthians | 10.000.000 |
| 2005/2006 | Maniche | Portugal | Dynamo Moscow | 16.000.000 |
| 2005/2006 | Luís Fabiano | Brazil | Sevilha FC | 10.000.000 |
| 2005/2006 | Georgios Seitaridis | Greece | Dynamo Moscow | 10.000.000 |
| 2005/2006 | Costinha | Portugal | Dynamo Moscow | 4.000.000 |
| 2005/2006 | Nuno Valente | Portugal | Everton | 2.000.000 |
| 2006/2007 | Diego | Brazil | Werder Bremen | 6.000.000 |
| 2006/2007 | Benni McCarthy | South Africa | Blackburn | 3.700.000 |
| 2007/2008 | Anderson | Brazil | Man. United | 31.500.000 |
| 2007/2008 | Pepe | Brazil | Real Madrid | 30.000.000 |
| 2008/2009 | Ricardo Quaresma | Portugal | Inter | 24.600.000 |
| 2008/2009 | Bosingwa | Portugal | Chelsea | 20.500.000 |
| 2009/2010 | Lisandro López | Argentina | Olympique Lyon | 24.000.000 |
| 2009/2010 | Lucho González | Argentina | Marseille | 19.000.000 |
| 2009/2010 | Aly Cissokho | France | Olympique Lyon | 16.200.000 |
| 2011/2012 | Radamel Falcao | Colombia | Atlético Madrid | 40.000.000 |
| 2012/2013 | Hulk | Brazil | Zenit | 40.000.000 |
| 2012/2013 | Fredy Guarín | Colombia | Inter | 11.000.000 |
| 2012/2013 | Álvaro Pereira | Uruguay | Inter | 10.000.000 |
| 2013/2014 | James Rodríguez | Colombia | AS Monaco | 45.000.000 |
| 2013/2014 | João Moutinho | Portugal | AS Monaco | 25.000.000 |
| 2014/2015 | Eliaquim Mangala | France | Man. City | 45.000.000 |
| 2014/2015 | Juan Iturbe | Argentina | Hellas Verona | 15.000.000 |
| 2014/2015 | Fernando | Brazil | Man. City | 15.000.000 |
| 2014/2015 | Nicolás Otamendi | Argentina | Valência | 12.000.000 |
| 2015/2016 | Jackson Martínez | Colombia | Atlético Madrid | 35.000.000 |
| 2015/2016 | Danilo | Brazil | Real Madrid | 31.500.000 |
| 2015/2016 | Alex Sandro | Brazil | Juventus | 28.000.000 |
| 2015/2016 | Giannelli Imbula | France | Stoke | 24.250.000 |
| 2015/2016 | Casemiro | Brazil | Real Madrid | 15.000.000 |
| 2017/2018 | André Silva | Portugal | AC Milan | 38.000.000 |
| 2017/2018 | Rúben Neves | Portugal | Wolves | 17.900.000 |
| 2017/2018 | Bruno Martins Indi | Netherlands | Stoke | 7.700.000 |
| 2018/2019 | Ricardo Pereira | Portugal | Leicester | 22.000.000 |
| 2018/2019 | Diogo Dalot | Portugal | Man. United | 22.000.000 |
| 2019/2020 | Éder Militão | Brazil | Real Madrid | 50.000.000 |
| 2019/2020 | Felipe | Brazil | Atlético Madrid | 20.000.000 |
| 2019/2020 | Óliver Torres | Espanha | Sevilha FC | 11.000.000 |
| 2021/2022 | Luis Díaz | Colombia | Liverpool | 54.000.000 |
| 2021/2022 | Danilo Pereira | Portugal | PSG | 16.000.000 |
| 2022/2023 | Vitinha | Portugal | PSG | 41.500.000 |
| 2022/2023 | Fábio Vieira | Portugal | Arsenal | 35.000.000 |
| 2023/2024 | Otávio | Brazil | Al-Nassr | 60.000.000 |
| 2023/2024 | Diogo Leite | Portugal | U. Berlim | 7.000.000 |
Let's analyze the data
Seasons 2004/2005 to 2013/2014
In this period, FC Porto completed 22 sales. Of these 22 sales, 12 were players with South American nationalities.
| Nationality | Number of Players | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 7 | 31.82% |
| Portugal | 6 | 27.27% |
| Colombia | 3 | 13.64% |
| Argentina | 2 | 9.09% |
| Greece | 1 | 4.55% |
| South Africa | 1 | 4.55% |
| France | 1 | 4.55% |
| Uruguay | 1 | 4.55% |
Seasons 2014/15 - 2023/24
In this period, FC Porto completed 23 sales. Of these 23 sales, 12 were players with South American nationalities. However, the nationality with the most players being sold was Portugal rather than Brazil compared to the previous decade.
| Nationality | Number of Players | Percentage (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Portugal | 8 | 34.78% |
| Brazil | 7 | 30.43% |
| France | 2 | 8.70% |
| Argentina | 2 | 8.70% |
| Colombia | 2 | 8.70% |
| Netherlands | 1 | 4.35% |
| Spain | 1 | 4.35% |
We can conclude that although Brazilian players continue to be a major source of income for FC Porto, the trend has changed due to the emergence of more Portuguese talent, but also due to the fact that Brazilian players' salary conditions have improved in their home country, making it more difficult for FC Porto to do business as before with low fees.
Added to this is the fact that major European clubs have begun to buy players directly from their home country, even before they reach the legal age to move to another country, as is the case with Estevão (transfer to Chelsea) and Endrick (transfer to Real Madrid).
All of this, combined with the club's financial problems, has led the club to begin looking at domestically trained players and developing them, such as Vitinha, Diogo D'Alot, and others.