THE FC Porto continues to keep its eyes on the market in search of a left-back and a striker, but the structure led by André Villas-Boas will not fail to analyze the situation on the right-back, as Martim Fernandes contracted yet another injury that left him out of the game sheet in the visit to Rio Ave, last Sunday. The young 20-year-old full-back even has Farioli’s trust, but his history of physical problems is starting to gain dimension.
Martim Fernandes was diagnosed with a muscle injury in his left thigh in the last training session before the trip to Vila do Conde and it is still not guaranteed that he will recover in time to be an option for the reception to Arouca, regarding the 3rd round of the I League, scheduled for next Sunday night.
After the victory at Arcos, Farioli gave his players two days off, with the first work session of this week taking place this Tuesday. This means that in the next few hours FC Porto will update the clinical report, which will include Martim Fernandes’ name.
Without being able to count on the young Olival graduate, the Italian coach finds himself very limited in terms of options for the right side of the defensive line. Alberto Costa recently recovered from injury and played 20 minutes against Rio Ave, but it was Nehuén Pérez who was the adapted solution found by Farioli.
The Argentine defender, who was recovering from a long injury last season, was in good form, scoring one of the winning goals with a header. At a defensive level, Nehuén Pérez made two clearances and an interception, but without being able to add much offensively – which was to be expected, given that he is a central defender.
In any case, the reappearance of Alberto Costa should allow the ex-Juventus man to take over the starting line-up when he returns to Dragão, but even so, Farioli doesn’t stop having a headache… called Martim Fernandes.
A worrying history
The young right-back’s injury history deserves special attention, looking at what happened in the previous two seasons. Last year, Martim played in 33 of the 53 games played by FC Porto, missing 11 of them due to injuries (lateral knee ligaments, plantar fasciitis and ankle sprain), which led to a 74-day absence.
In the previous one, the player from Valongo made 37 appearances for the Dragons out of a total of 52, having also suffered some physical problems, of muscular origin, which kept him away from eight games in a period of 36 days.
Given this history, FC Porto may consider investing in a new right-back in this transfer market. However, this will not be André Villas-Boas and Farioli’s main priority for now.
With Rodrigo Mora’s departure sealed, the blue and white SAD should expedite the arrival of a striker – Santiago Giménez is the best positioned name – and a left back – Souza has been flagged and has already been negotiated – to take the place of Francisco Moura, who is also expected to leave Dragão.
It should be noted that Martim Fernandes has a contract for another four years with FC Porto, being protected by a clause of 80 million euros. The young man who completed almost all of his training at Olival made his debut for the main team in October 2023, under the help of then coach Sérgio Conceição, during the visit to Vilar de Perdizes, in the 3rd round of the Portuguese Cup.
Martim Fernandes played five more games for FC Porto in 2023/24, settling in the A team the following season, with Vítor Bruno in technical command, and remaining in the options with Martín Anselmi.
