Less than two months before reaching adulthood, the under-21 international winger will play for the ‘blues’, but will only leave the isolated leader of the I Liga at the end of next season, at a time when he is looking to make his debut for the senior team.
The deal was closed for almost half of the 100 ME of the termination clause, but it could increase by around 1.4 ME depending on variables, making Quenda the most expensive football player under 18 in the sport, above Endrick, Rodrygo and Vinicius Júnior, all from Real Madrid.
The left-footed winger was Sporting’s third biggest sale, behind midfielders Bruno Fernandes, who joined English side Manchester United in 2020, earning a fixed €55 million, plus €25 million for objectives, of which €10 million have already been achieved, making a total of €65 million, and Manuel Ugarte, signed in 2023 by three-time French champions Paris Saint-Germain for €60 million.
The Uruguayan then joined the Portuguese international and captain at the ‘red devils’, coached by Ruben Amorim, who won two championships with the Alvalade club between 2020 and 2024. Behind Geovany Quenda are now the Spanish right-back Pedro Porro, midfielder Matheus Nunes and left-back Nuno Mendes, whose departures yielded 45 ME to the ‘lions’.
If Matheus Nunes, now at four-time English champions Manchester City, arrived at fellow English club Wolverhampton for this fixed amount, plus five million euros in variables, Pedro Porro and Nuno Mendes were initially loaned to Tottenham, from the Premier League, and to PSG, including fees of five and seven million euros in the final sum of the deals.
Midfielder João Mário, European champion with Portugal in 2016, and Algerian striker Islam Slimani cost 40 ME and 30 ME fixed to Italian side Inter Milan and English side Leicester, respectively.
Winger Nani, another of the Portuguese stars at Euro 2016, joined United for €25.5 million, slightly above the €22.5 million that Spanish side Atlético de Madrid agreed to pay in 2019 for forward Gelson Martins, one of the nine football players who had submitted their termination for just cause a year earlier, following the attacks on the Alcochete academy.
On the edge of that top 10 was the midfielder currently on loan at Las Palmas Dario Essugo, also transferred to Chelsea, for 22.3 ME.
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