The FC Porto is the new Portuguese champion, and there is no denying that the Dragons’ performance in the transfer market during the 2025/26 season was pivotal to their success. The board, led by president André Villas-Boas, executed a complete squad overhaul before the season began—not to mention appointing a new head coach, Italian Francesco Farioli—and then made surgical signings in January that filled remaining gaps and propelled the team to the title.
**A Record-Breaking Summer**
Last summer, FC Porto broke all records by investing €94.3 million in squad reinforcements, bringing in players who completely transformed not only the team’s composition but also its dynamics. It was the most expensive transfer window in the club’s history, and the impact on the pitch was unmistakable. Despite having a new coach and a largely new team, they achieved the best first half of a season in terms of points in Portuguese Liga history, collecting 49 out of 51 possible points—16 wins and one draw in the first half of the championship.
The most expensive signing of the summer was Victor Froholdt, who required an initial investment of €20 million. The Danish midfielder was undoubtedly one of the most influential arrivals for the Dragons in 2025/26, but he was not the only decisive one. Polish duo Jan Bednarek and Jakub Kiwior, for example, had an immediate impact, raising the level of Porto’s defensive line. This summer window also saw other players join who either went straight into the starting eleven or became regular options under Farioli, such as Alberto Costa, Borja Sainz, and Pablo Rosario. And let’s not forget Gabri Veiga, whose signing was completed in time for him to represent FC Porto at the last FIFA Club World Cup.
**FC Porto: All 2025/26 Transfers**
**A Nearly Perfect Winter Window**
In the January transfer window, the Dragons added four reinforcements to the squad, and all of them, in their own ways, had a significant influence on the team. They are Oskar Pietuszewski, Seko Fofana, Terem Moffi, and Thiago Silva. In total, FC Porto spent €8 million in January, all of which went to signing the 17-year-old Polish winger. The Ivorian midfielder arrived on loan, the Nigerian striker also came on loan, while the Brazilian center-back joined on a free transfer.
These four winter signings gave the squad a different dimension, providing greater depth and allowing Farioli more flexibility to rotate players and manage their physical effort, ensuring the Dragons did not lose steam in the final stretch of the season.
In summary, the squad reinforcement carried out by FC Porto before the season was one of the most important factors in the Dragons’ championship-winning campaign, and the adjustments made in the winter market also proved crucial to achieving success. With the accuracy shown in the last two transfer windows, the structure led by Villas-Boas quickly reached the top of Portuguese football and now has a very solid foundation to fight for new conquests in the near future. We will see how this winning squad is managed, starting with the summer market ahead of next season.
