Portugal: Weekly round-up

This one is not fought out on the pitch but in hotels, restaurants and parked cars. The object? To see which club can impress most in the transfer market. There’s a lot of pride at stake, and a lot of cutting of throats.

The so-called Três Grandes (FC Porto, Benfica and Sporting) are the main protagonists of this sideshow. Year after year, rumours abound of a big player going to one of the three, then being diverted to another amid either overt outrage or feigned indifference from the club losing out. Already this summer FC Porto have snatched Polish midfielder Kazmierczak (ex-Pogon/Boavista) and Brazilian forward Edgar (ex-Beira-Mar) from under Benfica’s nose, while Benfica nipped over to Argentina to nab Paraguayan striker Cardozo, apparently on Porto’s shopping list. Meanwhile, Sporting are eyeing Barcelona’s Argentinian striker Maxi López, serenaded by Benfica on various occasions in recent seasons.

There are many similar stories from the past. Before he came to Portugal, Mozambican born Eusébio was being courted by Sporting (he was, after all, playing for Sporting de Lourenço Marques, an affiliate of Sporting Lisbon, at the time), but while Sporting dithered, Benfica stepped in with a firm offer and cash up front, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Later, Luís Figo, a product of Sporting’s prodigious youth scheme, was within a whisker of being nicked by Benfica, but the Sporting president at the time, Sousa Cintra, was hit by a rare moment of perspicacity and blocked the move. in the other direction, Menino de Ouro João Pinto was tempted, with actual large wads of cash, to swap the Luz for Alvalade in the mid 90s, but this time the then Benfica president, Jorge Brito, stepped in to drag him back. João Pinto did of course subsequently move to Sporting, but on a more amicable basis and after being released from Benfica free of charge in 2000.

Then there was the story of Mario Jardel, the best striker in the Portuguese game in recent history, who helped FC Porto to three straight titles from 1996-99. In 1996, Benfica were in negotiations to bring super-Mário to the Luz, but while they haggled with his former club Grêmio over the price, in stepped Porto to take him to the Antas and 130 goals in 125 games.

FC Porto and Sporting appear to have the upper hand in this year’s campeonato do defeso, with fresh cash to spend from the sale of Anderson (30 million euros) and Nani (25 million) to Manchester United. Benfica, though, appear to have shot their bolt with Cardozo, the club’s second most expensive signing ever at 9.1 million euros (second only to Simão Sabrosa, 12 million in 2001).

As the teams reunite for pre-season preparation, the finishing touches will be made to the squads in the next few weeks. Then we’ll see who has in fact won this close-season tussle.