Since our last update on Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning squad, frenzied transfer rumours linked many of Portugal’s champions with moves to new clubs, especially Sporting’s players (Rui Patrício to Man City, William to Everton, Adrien to Leicester).
One major transfer did finally go through, as João Mário headed to Inter Milan. Domestically, Rafa Silva became the most expensive ever transfer between clubs within Portugal. He had been heavily linked to Porto and then Sporting, but finally moved Benfica from Braga minutes before the transfer window shut for a fee of over €16m.
PortuGOAL continues its monthly update on the Euro 2016 winners and again focus on two players who have switched clubs. Today the spotlight falls on André Gomes, who landed in Barcelona, and Nani, who made the move from Turkish club Fenerbahce to Valencia.
André Gomes: Gomes made a huge move this off-season, becoming one of select group of Portuguese players to land at Camp Nou with world super power Barcelona. For months Real Madrid was thought to be his destination, but it was the Blaugrana who sealed the deal.
Gomes went from training with Cristiano Ronaldo all spring and summer, to now training with Lionel Messi for the rest of the season. Not a bad duo to learn from. At just 22 years of age when the transfer occurred, Gomes’ deal from Valencia to Barcelona was priced at €35m and includes another €20m in incentives attached to the contract.
Gomes played 30 times for Valencia last season, on the back of a full season with the club the previous year after being loaned by Benfica. Rather than a flashy player, he has shown he is a steady performer, often orchestrating his team’s movements like a midfield general. This summer in France, Gomes lost his place early on in the tournament because of a nagging injury, but when called on he didn’t miss a beat. He gave the team size (6 feet 2 inches) and stability.
On his Barcelona debut Gomes played the full 90 minutes in a home victory versus Sevilla, in the Spanish Super Cup. He was heavily involved, earning praise from the Spanish press, who lauded Gomes as being “Iniesta in disguise by making contributions to two goals”. He had to sit out the La Liga opener with a one-match ban carried over from last season, but was a late game substitute in Barcelona’s victory over Athletic Bilbao.
Last week Gomes picked up an injury in the friendly versus Gibraltar, keeping him out of Portugal’s opening World Cup qualifier against Switzerland.
Having just turned 23, being at one of the biggest clubs in world in arguably the strongest league on the planet, and playing alongside some of the game’s greatest current players, Gomes has the ideal opportunity for enormous success both at club and international level.
Nani: I still find it odd to see Nani transferred or loaned with such frequency. I loved seeing him grow in Lisbon, then at Manchester United alongside Ronaldo, and had visions of these two young studs tearing it up for the Seleção at successive World Cups. He has the flash, the skills, the vision, and he can finish.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Nani has gone from Manchester, back to Sporting on loan, then to Fenerbahce, and has now landed this season in Spain with Valencia, on a three-year deal.
This summer, Nani was back to being a Portuguese heartthrob, netting key goals against Iceland and Hungary in the group stages, and then again versus Wales in the semi-finals, opportunistically redirecting Ronaldo’s cross into the net to give Portugal breathing room in that game. He was reinvigorated, and he took that momentum into the national squad’s first friendly after the Euros while wearing the captain’s armband and netting a brace versus Gibraltar, the first followed by an Olympic-worthy backflip by way of celebration.
A more mature and well-travelled Nani will be looked upon as a central piece for a Valencia squad that finished 12th in La Liga in 2015/2016 and has already dropped points in its first two games of the season. His free-flowing style of play should be a great fit for the La Liga game. He will have a chance to get on the score-sheet and become an immediate hit with the fans when he debuts in front of the home crowd on September 11th versus Real Betis.
Full Summer Transfer List of Portugal’s Euro 2016 Squad
Bruno Alves, Fenerbahce (TUR) to Cagliari (ITA), free transfer
Eduardo, Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) to Chelsea (ENG), for €5m
André Gomes, Valencia (SPA) to Barcelona (SPA), for €35m (with €20m in incentives)
Raphael Guerreiro, Lorient (FRA) to Borussia Dortmund (GER), for €12m
João Mário, Sporting (POR) to Inter Milan (ITA), for €40m
Nani, Fenerbahce (TUR) to Valencia (SPA), for €8.5m
Renato Sanches, Benfica (POR) to Bayern Munich (GER), for €35m (with €45m in incentives)
Rafa Silva, Braga (POR) to Benfica (POR), for €16.4m
by Craig Pinto Twitter: (@CraigPinto49)
Related: Euro 2016 winners squad watch – focus on Renato Sanches and Raphael Guerreiro
