Where are they now? Ruben Amorim’s 10 most expensive signings at Sporting Lisbon
Ruben Amorim is all but confirmed to be the new Manchester United head coach, where he will inherit a squad that has cost fortunes to assemble.
Giving individual managers too much rope in the transfer market is partially how United ended up in such a mess and was one of the reasons Erik ten Hag was ultimately dismissed.
While INEOS are trying to scale that back with their new footballing hierarchy and the appointment of Amorim as head coach, there’s no doubt he’ll have some say on how money is spent. Here are the 10 most expensive signings he’s made while in charge of Sporting.
10. Jerry St. Juste (€9.5million)
Sporting snapped up the defender from Mainz in the summer of 2022 for a modest fee, and he’s since made 55 appearances for the club as a regular in Amorim’s back three.
The Dutchman won the first league title of his career when they won the Primeira Liga last season and has recently returned to action after missing the start of this season with a muscle injury.
9. Ruben Vinagre (€10million)
After spending the 2021-22 season on loan at Sporting, the club made the deal permanent ahead of the 2022-23 season with Vinagre slotting in rather seamlessly as an option at wing-back in his native Portugal.
Now 25, he’s still on the books at Sporting, but is on his fourth loan spell away from the club in just two years. He spent a season at Hull and a season with Everton, but now finds himself in Poland with Legia Warsaw after a brief stint in Italy.
8. Ivan Fresneda (€9million)
A highly-rated Spanish youngster who has been linked with the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal and Roma, Sporting also agreed to a 10% sell-on clause with Real Sociedad in order to land Fresneda in 2023.
His first season was unfortunately derailed by shoulder surgery which put him on the shelf over the winter, but is now back fit and is still considered one of the best young right-backs in Europe.
The 20-year-old has made six appearances so far this season with Amorim carefully managing his development, but don’t expect this to be the last you hear of him.
7. Pedro Goncalves (€14.3million)
Signed to fill a hole left by Bruno Fernandes when he joined Manchester United in January 2020, Goncalves joined Sporting from fellow Portuguese side Famalicao that summer – Amorim’s first in charge of the first team.
A strange deal, Sporting initially paid €6.5million Goncalves as they only signed half of his economic rights.
It’s taken some time for him to develop, but by 2022-23 he had become the team’s main creator and he donned the number eight shirt in 2023-24 as they purchased the rest of his rights and won the league.
The 26-year-old has started fast again this season, with four goals and three assists from six league games.
6. Maxi Araujo (€16million)
No relation to Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo, Sporting signed Maxi this summer from Toluca on a five-year deal.
A left wing-back, the 24-year-old has been capped 18 times by Uruguay and has made an impressive start in Europe, making 11 appearances and weighing in with a goal and an assist.
Given United’s problems at left-back, he might be a name to keep tabs on.
5. Zeno Debast (€16million)
Also signed this summer was Debast, an exciting young centre-back who arrived from Belgian side Anderlecht.
The 21-year-old is considered among the brightest defensive prospects in European football and has already been capped 14 times for Belgium.
A nightmare debut against Porto saw him make two costly errors, but after being taken out of the firing line, he seems to have found his feet.
Notably, bagging his first goal for the club in supreme style against Lille in the Champions League.
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4. Paulinho (€16million)
Not that one. The striker joined Sporting midway through the 2020-21 season, reuniting with Amorim who had worked with him at Braga before joining Sporting himself.
It was a club-record deal at the time for Sporting, and while he only scored three league goals after signing for them that season, his goal against Boavista did win them their first title in 19 years.
Paulinho proved a capable scorer in the seasons that followed and rotated well with Viktor Gyokeres, but left this summer to sign for Liga MX side Toluca.
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3. Conrad Harder (€19million)
Nordsjaelland had accepted a bid from Brighton for Harder this summer, but he opted to sign for Sporting when they coughed up the money for his services too.
The 19-year-old is obviously learning the trade behind Gyokeres, but has already scored three times for his new club in all competitions.
Amorim’s new club already have a Danish centre-forward waiting for him, but it feels like Harder was signed for Sporting if Gyokeres chooses to leave. Interesting.
2. Morten Hjulmand (€21million)
After Manuel Ugarte left Lisbon for Paris, Hjulmand was signed in the summer of 2023 to bolster Sporting’s options at the base of midfield, in order to allow Amorim to continue implementing his style efficiently.
The 25-year-old enjoyed a strong first season in Portugal and made 49 appearances in all competitions as they won the Primeira Liga, prompting interest from Premier League sides over the summer with a respectable EURO 2024 campaign with Denmark also.
However, he stayed put and was on the scoresheet against Nacional in the League Cup quarter-final – a game which could prove to be Amorim’s last in charge of the club.
1. Viktor Gyokeres (€24million)
Signed for a club record fee from Coventry after a superb 2022-23 campaign that saw him score 22 and assist 12 in all competitions, there was still an element of risk in spending the money on someone scoring in the Championship.
Someone who hadn’t watched Gyokeres would’ve said that anyway. Inevitably, the Swedish forward thrived on the big stage with Sporting and bagged an astounding 43 goals from 50 games in his first season, along with 15 assists.
Speculation linking him with a move away this summer was inevitable, but Sporting have managed to keep hold of Gyokeres for now – probably something to do with the reported €100million release clause – and it’s paid off.
He’s already managed 16 goals from his first 15 games this season. Outrageous.