Pedro Gonçalves – The Forgotten Man Of Portuguese Football?

Updated:

February 19, 2023

Two years ago Pedro Gonçalves was said to have been in the sights of Liverpool and Manchester United as he played a crucial role in leading Sporting to their first Portuguese league title in 19 years as top scorer with 23 goals. His performances earned him Transfermarkt’s Liga Portugal Player of the Season for the 2020/21 season. But in 2023, during this period when Portuguese football has been scoured by Europe’s elite clubs for the next big thing, Pedro Gonçalves seems to have slipped through the cracks. And in this article we will discuss why that is.

The first point would be that Goncalves doesn’t want to leave Sporting CP. That’s the likely answer as he signed a new contract in October 2021, tying him to the club until 2026 and also including an €80m (£71,245,801) release clause. However, this hasn’t stopped other similar deals from being struck with other players.

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A recent example is Benfica’s Enzo Fernández for £106.8m, which was Benfica’s release clause when they signed Enzo for £10m last summer. It can be said that after his amazing performances at the World Cup which earned him the tournament’s best young player, Chelsea happily paid that clause for a 22-year-old who performed on the biggest stage, he could play alongside the world’s best player and look like he was meant to be there. And with Pedro Goncalves not even appearing in Portugal’s 30-man squad for Qatar 2022, he missed the chance to become another bright star of the tournament alongside the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Azzedine Ounahi, two players who left as a direct result of transfers will their appearances.

A second point could be that Sporting CP does not want to let Pedro Goncalves go. He is one of Sporting’s star players and since his arrival one of the best players Sporting has had. However, the sheer volume of talent that Sporting has shed makes that seem dubious as Sporting are well versed in the art of buying low and selling high and are comfortable letting their best players go. Some of the most notable players to leave Sporting in recent years are Bruno Fernandes, Matheus Nunes, Joao Palhinha, Nuno Mendes, Raphinha, Wendel, Rafael Leao and Pedro Porro. Looking through all that talent and seeing where all that talent has traveled since then, from Champions League finals to star players on title-winning teams. Sporting definitely have no problem selling superstars if the price is right or if a player wants to leave. So unless Pedro Goncalves wanted to stay, he would probably play weekly for Liverpool or Manchester United.

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The third and most interesting point might be that Sporting CP cannot replace him. From both a performance and a transfer perspective, Pedro Goncalves has been one of Sporting’s best signings of the past decade and has been instrumental in the success the club has enjoyed in recent years. And while there may be a wealth of talent around the world who could take Pedro’s place, there’s no guarantee they’ll be around for long. The Portuguese league has been the destination of Europe’s biggest clubs for talent over the past decade. You will hardly find a big club that doesn’t have a player from the Portuguese league. If you go through the list of players who have left for the all-time greats in the last decade, you could see a Champions League winning team with talents like Ruben Dias, Darwin Nunez, Eder Militao, Joao Felix, Luis Diaz, Ederson, Diego Dalot, Richardo Pereira, Ruben Neves, Danilo Pereira and Enzo Fernández.

And with Enzo’s move to Chelsea coming a season after his signing from Benfica, it shows just how strong these clubs’ pull is for Portuguese clubs looking to keep their players. And with Pedro Goncalves being essential to Sporting both on and off the pitch, they would lose a player they couldn’t replace, regardless of talent, if Sporting couldn’t tie him to a long-term deal as his successor. And even with the new deal, there’s an €80m release clause that most top clubs would be willing to pay if they really wanted him. Whether that came from Pedro Goncalves’ agents inserting a clause giving him the option to leave the club and continue, or whether it was from Sporting to ensure they only sell Pedro for an amount they sell It’s worth letting go of a potential club legend.

Currently, Pedro Goncalves is enjoying another great season with 10 goals and 5 assists in 18 games. And although Sporting is only fourth in Liga Portugal he hasn’t been swayed by that as only Mehdi Taremi and Joao Mario have more goals contributions than him this season and only by 1st factor as he had to move to LW Nach he has once again outperformed with the arrival of Pablo Sarabia last year and the talented Marcus Edwards starting in Goncalves’ natural RW position. And if he continues to play like this until the end of the season, he has shown he can perform at all levels of club football. He has shown in 20-21 that he is the top scorer in the league when his club is the best in the league. In the 21-22 season he showed he can still score and assist at this level against Europe’s best teams in the Champions League, as can established stars as Pedro has contributed 6 goals in 5 games and scored the most goals in the group Stage). And at 22-23, he’s currently showing that even though his team isn’t doing as well as it could be, he can still play at the highest level.

Do you think Pedro Goncalves is the forgotten man in Portuguese football? Leave a comment below with your thoughts