All change in Portugal as top Primeira Liga clubs shake up squads with summer transfers | OneFootball

Portuguese football has seen a flurry of transfer activity ahead of the new Primeira Liga season. The country’s biggest four clubs are making significant transfers to rework their squads.

For fans tracking team changes and early form, this is the perfect time to explore the best soccer betting sites. Updated odds, market shifts, and expert previews now reflect the latest signings and departures across the league. With players arriving from Spain, England, and beyond, expectations are shifting fast.

AVB promises big Porto rebuild

Porto appear determined to return to winning ways after last season’s struggles. President André Villas-Boas has claimed this summer will be a record transfer window for the northern club. So far the Dragons have paid around €15 million plus add-ons for Gabri Veiga from Al-Ahli. The Spanish midfielder agreed to a massive pay cut, forgoing over 90% of his Saudi salary to get back to European football.

Porto have also splashed out €16.5 million on Norwich City winger Borja Sainz, who netted 19 goals and delivered four assists in 43 Championship appearances last season. Norwich negotiated a 20% sell-on clause as part of the deal. Sainz spent two full seasons with the Canaries before making the jump to Portugal. If it seems a large fee for a player who has not played in the top flight of a major league, one need only remember that was the case for Darwin Nuñéz and Victor Gyökeres, who came from the second division in Spain and England respectively, only to tear it up in the Liga Portugal.

Porto have also picked up young Croatian centre-back Dominik Prpic from Hajkuk Split for €4.5 million and brought back goalkeeper João Costa, who came through the Porto academy but spent most of his career in Spain before returning to Portugal and playing for Feirense and Estrela da Amadora in the last couple of seasons.

Meanwhile the loan spells of Tiado Djaló and Fábio Vieira have not been extended, and veteran centre-back Marcano has retired.

Benfica wave goodbye to star names; Félix to return?

Benfica have chosen to completely remodel their attack. The Lisbon giants have lost star man Ángel Di María, who returned to his boyhood club Rosario Central after his contract expired. The Argentine legend scored 36 goals and provided 22 assists in his two seasons back at Benfica for a second spell.

With midfielder Orkun Kökçü offloaded to Besiktas in the wake of his disciplinary problems with coach Bruno Lage, and Álvaro Carreras sold to Real Madrid for a whopping €50 million fee, Benfica have lost arguably their three best performers of last season, certainly in terms of their attacking game. Renato Sanches, Zeki Amdouni and Andrea Belotti have had their loans terminated and Arthur Cabral has been sold to Botafogo. In defence, backup goalkeeper André Gomes and defender Adrian Bajrami have been loaned out to Alverca and Luzern in Switzerland respectively

The Eagles have so far added rookie Spanish left-back Rafael Obrador and highly rated Argentine midfielder Enzo Barrenechea, snapped up from Aston Villa for a fee of €15 million. But the possible signing that is really exciting Benfica fans is the potential return of João Félix. The Portugal international is keen to return to the club where he first shot to fame under the tutelage of current Benfica coach Bruno Lage.

Champions Sporting to be dismembered?

Sporting have not yet made any major moves but are bracing themselves for the impending departure of at least one of their biggest stars. Viktor Gyökeres, undoubtedly the best player in Portugal in the last two seasons, is on the cusp of a move to Arsenal. 97 goals and 27 assists in 102 matches makes the Swede a Bonafide Sporting legend despite spending only two years at Alvalade, and it is a shame his time in Lisbon has come to a messy end with Sporting, Arsenal, Gyökeres’ agent and the player himself thrashing out an acrimonious negotiation process. Nobody believes the transfer will not eventually be completed though.

While Sporting fans were fully expecting Gyökeres to move on, the news that Morten Hjulmand and Ousmane Diomande are also being targeted by Juventus and Crystal Palace respectively is cause for concern. Losing their best player would be a blow but largely expected and a loss that can be compensated for by strengthening the squad elsewhere, but should the Portuguese champions lose their three best players they will face a huge test to continue their recent success.

Sporting have brought in Georgian midfielder Giorgi Kochorashvili from Levante for €5.5 million, who made an impressive debut off the bench in the preseason friendly against Celtic, and winger Alisson Santos who was purchased from União de Leiria.

Braga show ambition

Portugal’s “fourth grande” Sporting Braga are quietly going about their business under new Spanish coach Carlos Vicens, who is taking on his first job as head coach at a top-level club after working for several years as Pep Guardiola’s assistant at Manchester City.

Highly rated Ivory Coast midfielder Mario Dorgeles is an €11 million capture from Nordsjælland, while goalkeeper Alaa Bellaarouch (ex-Strasbourg), defenders Gustaf Lagerbielke (ex-Celtic) and Leonardo Lelo (ex-Casa Pia) have also been brought in, with Joe Mendes, Andrán Marín and Uros Racic departing.

Revolving door policy

The financial disparity between the Primeira Liga and Europe’s wealthiest leagues means Portuguese clubs are forced to generate a substantial revenue stream by selling players to foreign leagues. These transfer fees give them new funds to buy fresh talent and invest in their youth academies, which keeps the entire league competitive. The cycle works well: clubs develop promising players, sell them for decent money, then reinvest those profits into new signings and squad improvements.

The transfer window is far from finished and we can expect a lot more incoming and outgoing movement over the coming weeks. With all this activity and given the need for new players to settle down, it will likely be only in deep into September when we can truly evaluate who has “won” the 2025 summer transfer window in Portugal.