PREMIER PORTUGEEZERS
England’s top tier has hosted 72 of Bruno’s compatriots since 1992, ranging from ‘ Good Lord’ to ‘ Oh Lord, they’re good’
Ward- Prowse’s seven league strikes in 2018- 19 included one at Incredibly, home to Alex Ferguson fellow strugglers didn’t Fulham, watch Bebe even which lifted Southampton once before signing him out as a of 20- the year- relegation old. The zone forward had been in Portugal’s third tier before Vitoria de Guimaraes grabbed him for nothing in 2010, with no other takers. Five weeks and £ 7.2m later he was a Manchester United player, in a deal so perplexing it was investigated by the authorities.
BEBE HELDER POSTIGA
Porto scooped a stellar treble in 2002- 03, but it turned out their 18- goal, 20- year- old striker had been holding them back. Glenn Hoddle’s Tottenham swooped for Postiga, paying £ 6.25m and handing him a five- year contract, but just two goals in 24 appearances ensured a swift return to Porto – fresh from their Champions League triumph.
RENATO SANCHES
Sanches won Best Young Player at Euro 2016 aged 18, but an ill- fated move to Bayern Munich resulted in a loan to Swansea. There, the midfielder had a nightmare in a relegation- haunted side, with 15 dismaying performances peaking when he mistakenly passed to a pitchside advertising hoarding. These days, he’s faring much better at Lille.
PAULO FUTRE
Some choose low hills to die upon. Futre, who won the European Cup with Porto in 1986- 87, was furious a decade later after hearing he wouldn’t get the No. 10 shirt at West Ham, so he refused to play until he did. “It was all caused by the chairman,” he told FFT recently, which implies he did learn something from playing under Harry Redknapp.
LUIS BOA MORTE
His memorable episode of Cribs may not have made majestic television for MTV, but Boa Morte was generally appreciated by all his top- flight clubs in England after becoming one of Arsene Wenger’s early Arsenal deals in 1997. Helped by seven seasons at Fulham, he made more appearances than any other Portuguese player.
BERNARDO SILVA
After he helped to knock Manchester City out of the Champions League with Monaco, the former couldn’t wait to fork out £ 43.5m on the diminutive midfield dynamo in 2017. Sure enough, Bernardo helped City rack up a record 100 points en route to Premier League glory, and he was even better when the club retained the title in 2018- 19.
RICARDO CARVALHO
In 2004, the defender followed Jose Mourinho to Chelsea after the pair’s Champions League win with Porto, and together they led the Blues to their first Premier League title with a backline that let in only 15 goals. The granite partnership of Carvalho and John Terry was among the greatest in English football history.
CRISTIANO RONALDO
He came, he did some stepovers, and then he became an absolute monster. Ronnie was a stick- legged showpony upon his arrival from Sporting in 2003, but no one worked harder thereafter. He blossomed in 2006- 07 with 17 league goals, then smashed 31 a year later despite playing mostly on the wing.