The Top Five Best Signings From Portugal In Premier League History

David Tully

3 years ago

Categories: Galleries, Manchester United News

Tags: Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leeds, Leeds United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Southampton, Spurs, West Ham, Wolves

After going through the most successful transfers from Italy last time, this week we will turn our attention to players signed from Portugal.

Although it isn’t always guaranteed that a player from the Primeira Liga will be a success, it must be said that the majority do find their feet in England.

All five stars on this list have made a huge impact during their time playing in this country, winning titles and drawing accolades for their individual performances.

Press the next page as we go through the five best Premier League players who were signed from Portuguese clubs.

5) Nemanja Matic (Benfica to Chelsea – £21m)

There were a lot of players we considered for this fifth spot, including the likes of Ruben Dias, Rui Patricio and even David Luiz but Matic’s move to Chelsea in 2014 coincided with a period of success for the Blues.

The Serbian won his first league title under Jose Mourinho in his first season back in England, while he won his second championship just two years later with Antonio Conte.

4) Ricardo Carvalho (Porto to Chelsea – £20m)

The defender had won the Champions League with Porto and he was undoubtedly the most successful signing out of the players Mourinho bought from Portugal in 2004.

Carvalho struck up a formidable centre-back partnership with John Terry, helping to build a solid foundation which was the basis of Chelsea’s first two Premier League titles in the mid-00s.

3) Ederson (Benfica to Manchester City – £35m)

A number of people raised their eyebrows when City paid such a sizeable sum for a goalkeeper back in 2017. It was the second-highest fee ever paid for a keeper at the time.

However, Ederson has more than paid back his price tag, winning three Premier League titles and two Golden Glove awards in the process.

2) Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United – £67.6m)

The Portuguese playmaker may have only spent 18 months at Old Trafford so far but his impact on the club has been quite remarkable.

In just 80 appearances for United since his move from Sporting in January 2020, Fernandes has scored 40 goals and contributed 25 assists, meaning he has been involved in a goal every 1.23 games.

1) Cristiano Ronaldo (Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United – £12.24m)

United broke the record for the most expensive teenager in English football when they snapped up the Portuguese youngster in 2003 but, over the next six years, he turned into a world star.

Ronaldo took the best part of three seasons to mature as a player, but he played a key role in helping United win league titles in three successive seasons between 2007 and 2009. He was then sold for £80m, a world record fee, to Real Madrid.