Football Season Guide

Portimonense had a very pleasant debut season, last year. The 10th position by the end of the season illustrates Portimonense’s performance in perfection, as the team from Algarve had a very smooth ride at top flight football, granting their place in this season with some comfort and antecedence. The task to repeat last season’s heights won’t be so easy, though. New coach Folha will have a slightly weakened side at his disposal, this time around. Having lost one of his most valuable jewels during the course of the last season in the creative midfielder Paulinho, it was the time for last season’s top scorer Fabrício to leave as well, as he signed a lucrative contract with Japanese football. On the good sign, the brightest star of the team is still at Portimão: winger Shoya Nakajima has been linked with a number of clubs, both from Portugal and abroad, but so far he is at Algarve. Keeping him there will prove to be the biggest move made by the board in order to provide success this season. Another good move would be to try and bring Paulinho back. The midfielder hasn’t found any space at Porto and should be leaving. Convincing him to get back at a place he was very happy will be a hard but at the same time very important step. With one week for the start of the league, the biggest task for Folha and his staff is to find a decent substitute for Fabrício. So far, the veteran Pires is the only striker in the squad. Important defender Lucas Possignolo is in an undefined situation. His loan contract from São Paulo ended this June, but while there was no notice of a new agreement, the player keeps training at Algarve with the rest of the squad. Losing him without a proper replacement could prove to be too much of a blow.