Portugal is a 'gold mine' for the Premier League

Arsenal expect Gyökeres to be the perfect piece for their Premier League title ambitions.

Over the past two decades, from Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes to Ruben Dias, Ederson and now Gyokeres, English clubs have spent billions of euros to exploit the “gold mine” of players from the Primeira Liga, bringing in stars who have shaped the tournament.

Big deals

Arsenal are closing in on the €85m signing of Gyokeres from Sporting CP, continuing a new chapter in the financial relationship between Premier League clubs and Portuguese football. The Swedish striker has completed a deal to join the Emirates Stadium this summer, likely to become the most expensive player sold by Portuguese clubs this summer.

For decades, English clubs have viewed Portugal as an ideal market to invest in, bringing in stars who have made their mark in the Premier League. Gyokeres is expected to continue that success.

The 27-year-old striker will leave Sporting CP just two years after joining from Coventry City in 2023. With 41 goals in 50 Primeira Liga games in the 2024/25 season, he has become Arsenal's top target this summer.

The deal adds to Arsenal's long list of signings from Portugal. Arsenal also signed defender Nuno Tavares from Benfica in 2021, but he only played one season before moving to Lazio in the summer of 2025.

Similarly, Fabio Vieira was bought by Arsenal from Porto for 35 million euros in 2022. However, the midfielder has not met expectations due to limited playing time and poor form. Gyokeres is expected to break this losing streak, bringing a breakthrough to coach Mikel Arteta's attack.

Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest symbol of the relationship between the Premier League and Portuguese football. Joining Old Trafford at the age of 18 from Sporting CP, Ronaldo grew up and became the best player in the world at Manchester United.

Ronaldo's success made the Portuguese league a favourite market for Manchester United. They went on to sign Nani from Sporting CP, who had an impressive eight seasons in England but still could not overcome Ronaldo's shadow.

Ronaldo is the Premier League's most successful player acquisition from the Portuguese league.

The "Red Devils" then continued to invest hundreds of millions of euros in buying players from the Portuguese league, with other typical deals such as Bruno Fernandes from Sporting CP in 2020 (price 55 million euros).

However, not all purchases have been successful for MU, as they have experienced failures like Marcos Rojo and Alex Telles, or average contracts like Victor Lindelof.

The influence of the Portuguese football market at United also extends to the coaching bench, with Ruben Amorim, former Sporting CP coach, appointed after Erik ten Hag was sacked in 2024. Previously, Carlos Queiroz (assistant to Sir Alex Ferguson) and Jose Mourinho (coach from 2016-2018) also left their mark at Old Trafford.

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In addition to Sporting CP, Benfica has also been a source of expensive contracts in Premier League history. With a fee of 121 million euros from Benfica to Chelsea in 2023, Enzo Fernandez held the record for the most expensive player in Premier League history until Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool this summer.

Darwin Nunez (to Liverpool, €85m) and Ruben Dias (to Manchester City, €71m) are also among the big deals Benfica has made. Ederson, bought by Man City from Benfica in 2017 for €40m, was also an expensive goalkeeper in the Premier League. Earlier this year, Manchester City continued to focus on exploiting players from Portugal with the deal of Nico Gonzalez (from Porto, €60m).

According to A Bola , Portuguese clubs have earned more than €500 million from the Premier League over the past decade, turning the Primeira Liga into a “gold mine” for English teams.

The links between Portuguese football and the Premier League extend beyond the top teams, with Wolverhampton Wanderers being a prime example of the close relationship between the Premier League and Portugal, thanks to their partnership with super-agent Jorge Mendes and the Fosun International group.

While in the Championship, Wolves signed Ruben Vinagre, Ruben Neves, and Diogo Jota from Porto. When they moved up to the Premier League, Wolves continued to bring in Portuguese players such as Raúl Jiménez, Fábio Silva, Matheus Nunes, and Rui Patrício.

The Portuguese influence at Wolves is so great that the club, nicknamed 'The Wolves', once designed a secondary kit with the colours of the Portuguese flag, becoming a symbol of this connection.

Of course, every relationship has two sides. Despite the huge amount of money earned from the Premier League, Portuguese clubs are losing many bright talents, weakening their competitiveness in the European arena.

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Source: https://znews.vn/bo-dao-nha-la-mo-vang-voi-premier-league-post1569023.html