Five of the best foreign-born Primeira Liga players | OneFootball

The Portuguese top flight, the Primeira Liga, has always been home to extravagantly talented players. While many of them hail from Portugal, several of the best players in all positions have come to play football in Portugal from abroad.

PortuGOAL takes a look at some of the best foreign-born players currently playing in the Primeira Liga, covering outstanding footballers from the top teams in the Liga Portugal Betclick, Porto, Sporting, Benfica and Braga.

Sebastián Coates

One of the most solid defenders in the Portuguese top flight, the Uruguayan Sebastián Coates plays for Sporting Clube de Portugal. At 32 years old, he’s the club captain and comes with experience, and has won a host of titles, including four Portuguese league cups, the Copa America and the Portuguese league title.

It was that title that proved a special and significant moment in his career. It was the first year of his club captaincy and he led Sporting to their first title in 19 years. Their defence was key to becoming national champions, keeping 20 clean sheets that season and conceding just 20 goals in 34 matches. He was duly named the Primeira Liga’s best player.

Liverpool fans may have a tough time believing this now after watching Coates play in the Premier League. Coates failed to make a positive impression at the club with some Liverpool fans less included to bet on their own side if they saw him on the team sheet. But since leaving the club, he’s proved just how good a player he is.

Mehdi Taremi

Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi currently plays for league runners-up Porto, but a few years ago when the Iranian played for Rio Ave, he gave Coates a torrid time. Coates ended up conceding three penalties in the same match against Taremi.

The powerful striker is something of a late bloomer. He played in the Iranian league up until 2019, when he moved to Portugal. Since then, he has wasted no time in proving his quality. He scored 18 goals in 30 league games for Rio Ave, which prompted Porto to sign him. He has since scored 58 goals in just 99 games, a truly prolific record.

Taremi really proved his class in Porto’s impressive Champions League run in 2021. He scored an incredible bicycle kick against Chelsea in the quarterfinals and helped knock Juventus out too. That bicycle kick won Goal of the Season.

At 30 years of age, Taremi has shown no signs of slowing down. Last year, he scored 22 goals to become top scorer in the Primeira Liga and also provided seven assists in just 33 games. He also scored five goals in seven Champions League games, making him one of Europe’s leading scorers.

Otávio

One of the standout players in the Portuguese league and also another Porto player is Otávio.

The tenacious winger possesses lightning quick speed of thought, is skilful with the ball, is a tremendous passer, has an eye for goal and is a tough tackler, but it is his fiercely competitive spirit that has made him a cult hero at the Estádio do Dragão.

Otávio was originally born in Brazil but has since declared for Portugal and has made 14 international appearances, scoring three goals. He signed for Porto in 2014 and has become a true fan favourite.

It took Otávio time to truly blossom into the player he is today, helped by the guidance of his coach and equally ferocious competitor Sérgio Conceição. It was only in the 2019/20 season that he enjoyed his breakout run, playing 48 games and helping Porto secure the double. It led to him being named in the league’s Best XI and since then, he’s never looked back.

Last season he was voted the best player in the Portuguese league, an even more impressive achievement if you consider Porto were not champions.

David Neres

Tricky Brazilian winger David Neres began life in São Paulo before transferring to Ajax in 2017. He quickly impressed there and was involved in the team that went all the way to the Europa League final. He was also on the scoresheet against the Galácticos Real Madrid when Ajax famously beat them in the Champions League.

Off the back of his impressive form, Neres was linked with moves to some big European teams, including Manchester United and Atlético Madrid. He decided to stick with Ajax and his form waned.

Since arriving at Benfica, he has very much reignited his game. He provided two assists on his debut, and scored and assisted six goals in his first six games.

He went on to play 31 league games in his debut season, as well as 12 goals in Europe, scoring four goals along the way. It was his significant contribution, as well as those of his team mates, that led Benfica to claim the league title, pipping their arch rivals to the post by just a single point.

Matheus Magalhães

The Brazilian goalkeeper has become part of the furniture at Braga’s famous stadium, known colloquially as The Quarry.

Referred to simply as “Matheus” in footballing circles, the tall and stocky goalkeeper transferred to Braga from América Mineiro in 2014. Born in Belo Horizonte, he played 66 times for the Brazilian club and showed enough for the Portuguese club to sign him on a 5-year contract.

Matheus was not an immediate success, sometimes having to fight for his place as Braga’s first-choice stopper and also suffering the dreaded ACL injury that forced him to miss most of the 2018/19 season.

He made a full recovery though, and has been in magnificent form ever since, becoming an automatic starter for the ever-improving northern club and one of the best goalkeepers in the league. A highlight of Matheus’ career was winning the Portuguese Cup in 2021, when Braga defeated Benfica 2-0 in the final.

Now 31 years old, Matheus has been such a consistent performer both domestically and in European play that he has been the subject of speculation linking him with a lucrative move to English Premier League club Nottingham Forest.