After all, the need to sell players is not so urgent for FC Porto, which has already pressed the button: leave only for the value of the clause. Looking at the revenue of the last five transfer windows, the SAD of the Dragons earned almost 400 million euros, an average of around 80 million per season. A value that looks hard to reach this summer unless a club exceeds the release clause value of Diogo Costa, the most valuable player in the squad.
In the 2022-23 season, the dragons earned 86.05 million euros from the departure of players, with Vitinha’s departure to PSG being the most valuable transfer (41.50 million euros). In 2021-2022, turnover was 72.25, including the 47 million that Liverpool paid for Luis Díaz’s pass. In 2020-21, Fábio Silva went to Wolverhampton and left 40 million in Dragão’s coffers which helped the club reach 76.15 million departing players. The 2019-20 season was the most profitable of the last five (88 million), largely due to the 50 million paid by Real Madrid to take Éder Militão, while the 2018-19 season was the least profitable (72, 55 million) and had the least volume: Pereira was the most valuable, earning only 22 million euros.
Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle were some of the clubs that showed interest in the goalkeeper, who put his fate in the hands of businessman Jorge Mendes. Diogo Costa’s termination clause was increased when he extended his contract until 2027, now worth €75 million.
This is a high value for a goalkeeper, which can place the owner of the national team’s goal as the second most expensive ever. The record holder is Spaniard Kepa Arrizabalaga, who earned 80 million from Athletic Bilbao when he moved to Chelsea in August 2018. However, the proposals for Diogo Costa, as DN learned, did not exceed 40 million euros.
Forced to sell?
The market was in turmoil on June 5, the day the results of FC Porto’s SAD bond loan were presented, which allowed an inflow of 55 million euros to “finance the treasury at a particularly delicate moment”. On that occasion, Fernando Gomes, manager of SAD, announced that the club was obliged to make a sale until June 30 (tomorrow) “to balance the accounts”.
The person in charge of Porto’s finances did not say how much was needed to reach that account balance and avoid close scrutiny by UEFA again in case of non-compliance with the rules of financial fair play. However, taking into account the assessment of the players in the squad on the Transfermarkt website, only three players are above the threshold of 22 million euros, which was the minimum value of a FC Porto sale in the last five years: they are Diogo Costa (€45M), Otávio (€35M) and Pepê (€25M). The offers that reached Dragão were much lower than desired by the SAD administration and are a far cry from the no-negotiation exit value, one of the requirements now set in order not to squander the team coached by Sérgio Conceição.
After Diogo Costa, Otávio is the most valuable footballer. The Portugal international was voted Best Player of the Championship, which ended with Benfica National Champion, and continues with a €60 million release clause – an amount that has not changed since 2014, despite having already extended his contract twice, the last of those in March 2021, when he extended his link with the club until 2025. That summer of 2021, the midfielder was facing sales prices, with the transfer fee dropping to 40 million for a month and the club refusing a 30 million proposal.
Pepê has a contract until 2027 (a contract which was extended last October for another year) and a €70m release clause, but the Brazilian went on holiday guaranteeing that he would stay at FC Porto for another year. Mehdi Taremi, according to his manager, expressed the same sentiment. The I Liga top scorer has a £60m clause but is estimated at just £18m and wants to continue at Dragão or at least play in Europe, having already refused to move to Saudi Arabia.
Luis Díaz and the end of UEFA restrictions
Selling to balance the books, generate immediate income or comply with UEFA’s financial fair play is something that has come up again and again for the Dragon parties in recent years. In January 2022, the club was forced to let Colombian Luis Díaz leave when Liverpool offered €47 million not to breach UEFA’s financial fair play rules. The transfer made it possible to avoid a heavy fine, in which the collected amounts would be withheld.
Months after making a significant match with Luis Díaz, FC Porto’s SAD reported that the 2021-22 season ended with a profit of 20.7 million, a result that allowed the dragons to leave under the purview of UEFA. “Once these rules are followed, FC Porto will definitely be outside the rules of financial fairness. Requirements have been made for four years. The agreement with UEFA has been fully respected. We no longer have any restrictions in this area,” said Fernando Gomes. in October 2022 Now, eight months later, Porto’s finances need oxygen again.
Source: DN
