The Best Young Portuguese Footballers
The Youth of Today The 4 best young Portuguese Football Players
The Youth of today - Who are Portugal’s young wonderkids?
Florentino Luis, Francisco Trincao, Ferro and Nuno Mendes are 4 of Portugal’s most exciting talents. Let’s see why.
In this series, Charlie Rowan celebrates up-and-coming European talent under 23 with unrivalled potential, country by country. We have Iso far looked at the best young English players, the top talent from Spain, the pedigree of French youth, some wonderful German future stars and in this piece we focus on some fantastic Portuguese wonderkids.
Portugal - An Overview
Cristiano Ronaldo has been Portugal’s star man since his teenage emergence, but now he is aged 35, it’s time for Os Navegadores to find a new talisman.
The Portuguese national team may have only won two major trophies in recent history (the European Championships in 2016, and the Nations League in 2019), but the talent they recently adopted into their ranks suggests they will win more. The players among the next generation of Portuguese talent are ready to prove themselves as gems.
João Felix, Ruben Dias and Renato Sanches are young stars growing into world-beaters. But these are names that are already dominating headlines. Who are the up-and-coming young Portuguese players that are lesser-known, with limitless potential?
Florentino Luis
Florentino Luis is a star in the making. The AS Monaco holding midfielder - who is on loan from Benfica - has only made 27 senior league career appearances, yet is highly regarded as one of the best young talents in his position. 21-year-old Luis has superb innate ability; he is an outstanding passer of the ball, he is exceptionally composed but he is also a powerful and combative ball-winner.
Often compared to French icon Claude Makelele, Luis is very protective of the defence behind him: throughout his career, he has made a formidable 3.46 interceptions per 90 minutes, and 3.71 tackles per 90 minutes. And his fantastic defensive ability has earned his clubs 0.42 clean sheets per 90 (double the average defensive midfielder) and 0.93 goals conceded per 90.
He is also a passing sensation - he has achieved 127 passes 176 minutes this season. And these are remarkably accurate with a passing accuracy in his own half of 91.7%, and a long pass accuracy of 77.3%.
The Lisbon-born prodigy has already played for all of Portugal’s youth teams collectively 76 times - he was part of Portugal’s under-18 team which won the European Championships in 2018 - and the senior squad are seemingly monitoring his progress.
The rising talent has been called 'O Polvo' (The Octopus) in Portugal since he has tentacles everywhere in midfield. Scouts from top clubs have Luis on their radar, with Fulham, Southampton and AC Milan all registering interest in him last summer. His ability can’t be underestimated - Manchester United were reportedly keen on a £65M deal for Luis in 2019.
His former coach Joao Tralhao described his playing style: “Defensively he is a top, top-class player, he can understand very well the game, he understands how the positions should be, he understands how the timings should be to intercept the ball, he was always very, very, very good in the tackles.”
Francisco Trincao
20-year-old Francisco Trincao has the potential to be special. The right-winger is a dribbling dynamo; he is agile, he is naturally composed and his spatial awareness is fantastic. Just watch one video of Trincao’s play. You would be able to see his instinctive goal-scoring ability, his sensational vision and such mesmerising creativity. And the €31M transfer fee Barcelona paid to Braga for him in January 2020 would seem a bargain.
The right-footed starlet can operate on both wings but is usually a right-sided inside forward. He scored eight goals and contributed eight assists in 27 league appearances last season for Braga, for whom he made his first-team debut in December 2018. Even an excellent goal contribution record doesn’t fully highlight his creativity. Throughout his career, his through balls as a percentage of passes is 1.02%, his chances created per 90 is 1.91 and his assists per 90 is 0.34. Trincao is a creative machine.
His dribbling and shooting statistics also outline why he is such a talent. With 3.58 successful dribbles per 90 (over double the average winger), and a 60.5% dribbling success rate, he could eventually be a perfect replacement for Messi at Barca. The SC Braga academy graduate is a lethal attacking threat - he has 6.12 touches in the opposition box per 90, a non-penalty goal conversion rate of 14% and 1.05 shots on target per 90.
He is so naturally potent in front of goal that it is no surprise he was called up to Portugal’s first team, after impressing for club and at international youth level - the young starlet was named best scorer and one of the best players of the U19 European championship, where he led the Portuguese team to the title.
SC Braga’s president, António Salvador, said that Trincao would “define a decade” in football.
Ferro
What makes Benfica whizzkid Ferro so special is how commanding he is. The ball-playing centre back is only 23-years-old, but he is already one of the first names on Benfica’s team sheet. Ferro has the technical ability and physicality to evolve into a top centre-back. Standing at 6ft 3in tall, the Portuguese Under-21 international is dominant in the air and is a superb tackler.
Last season, he racked up a tackle success ratio of 68.9%, 0.51 clean sheets per 90 and 1.75 tackles per 90. And with 1.79 interceptions per 90 minutes and 5.32 recoveries per 90 minutes, Ferro has brilliant awareness - he is an extremely intelligent player. Similar to former arsenal man Laurent Koscielny, he is strong in the air with an aerial success rate of 60.6%.
And his passing is wonderful, too. With 37.8 passes in his own half per 90 minutes and a successful own-half passing success ratio of 92.2% (in 2019/20), Ferro is very reliable to play out of the back. But he is also involved with the attacking side of play; last season, he achieved 22.4 passes per game in the opposition half with a success rate of 75.6%, as well as 0.27 chances created per game, what is an astounding feat for a centre back.
The Liga NOS starlet has attracted interest over the past year from some top clubs. Liverpool, Manchester United and Manchester City have all reportedly been interested in the Oliveira de Azeméis-born star, who has an £85M release clause.
A Portugal under-21 regular, Ferro has raised eyebrows on international duty, proposing that he should play at Euro 2021 with the first team.
Nuno Mendes
Sporting Lisbon has a plethora of teenage talents. Among these is 18-year-old ace Nuno Mendes. A regular in Sporting's first team, he is rapid, he is sharp on the turn and has magnificent innate technical ability. The Sintra-born left-back broke into the Sporting first team when COVID-19 cancelled youth football and has been explosive since.
Skilful and agile, his dribbling technique is marvellous. He has created 3.33 dribbles per 90 minutes, with 1.90 of those successful. And his passing is terrific as well - he has racked up 27 passes in the opposition half per 90, with a 69.3% success ratio.
A complete full-back, Mendes is strong and physical, but also versatile; he can play as a left-sided centre-back. He has developed a great positional sense and understanding of the game, and work rate of an engine. He is energetic, consistent and aggressive. A crossing marvel, he is extremely dangerous on the counter thanks to his pace and acceleration.
Defensively solid, the teenager provides many key interceptions, clearances and tackles for his team. Mendes makes 2.45 tackles and 3.13 interceptions per 90 minutes, proving just how vital he is, despite his age. And his vision is also amazing - with 0.14 through balls per 90 and 1.29 chances created per 90, he is a creative cog for Sporting.
Liverpool, Manchester United and Real Madrid have all expressed their transfer interest for Mendes among many others, but reportedly, the latter seem to be winning the race for his signature. He looks poised to be making his trade at the Bernabeu in the near future.
His performances have not gone unnoticed. He has been tipped by some to be called up to the senior Portugal squad ahead of the rearranged Euro 2021, even after making his under-21 debut only in September.
That concludes the fifth match of our European tour. These players are astounding talents, and will probably go on to become legends of the game.
This is an original article by Charlie Rowan for The Sporting Blog.
