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PORTO won the three-horse race with Sporting and Benfica to clinch their first Primeira Liga title since 2022. Since that win, they have had some problems to deal with, but they turned a corner with the appointment of former Chelsea and Tottenham coach André Villas-Boas as president. He has presided over a turnaround at the club – in 2024-25, they made a net profit of € 39.2 million, a € 60 million improvement on their loss in 2023-24, largely due to a major cost-cutting exercise. Porto were unbeaten in their first 19 games before losing to Casa Pia, their second defeat, coming after the title had been clinched, was at AVS. Defence was the key to their success with just 18 goals conceded. Porto reached the semi-final of the Taca de Portugal but lost to Sporting and were eliminated from the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the quarter-finals. All-in-all, a memorable campaign for Italian coach Francesco Farioli, who has bounced back from being ushered to the door in Amsterdam by Ajax in May 2025. Porto’s team is one of the youngest in the Primiera Liga and their squad is very cosmopolitan; they have players from Africa (Nigeria and Ivory Coast), South America (Argentina and Brazil), Central America (Dominican Republic) and European countries such as Croatia, Denmark, France, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Turkey. The regular squad cost around € 200 million and around a third of it is Portuguese. One of Porto’s most coveted players is Spanish forward Samu Aghehowa, whose season was cut short by injury, but not before he had scored 20 goals. Premier League clubs Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur have all shown an interest in the 22-year-old. Liverpool have been eyeing Danish midfielder Victor Froholdt, goalkeeper Diogo Costa and young Polish striker Oskar Pietuszewski. Liverpool are just one of a long line of clubs who have been tracking the former Jagiellonia Białystok front man, who cost Porto € 10 million. The experienced Pablo Rosario, who was signed from Ligue 1 club Nice, is also a target for Championship clubs in England. The club president praised the role played by the team’s coach: “The appointment of Francesco Farioli was a choice based on high standards, coherence and attention to detail. It was a project built to win, and it won. This title bears the mark of a coach who quickly understood what FC Porto is all about,” said André Villas-Boas. Photo: Jay Joshi via Unsplash