FC Porto president Andre Villas-Boas has revealed he was unable to sign players due to the Club World Cup.
Porto are one of two Primeira Liga teams in the competition with Benfica and have recently added Gabri Veiga from Al Ahli, but it wasn’t easy to do any more work.
The Club World Cup has already been roundly panned due to the hectic footballing schedule, and tickets for Inter Miami’s opening match were selling for as little as $3.
The scheduling has been the main concern for players though, as Villas-Boas revealed: “We recently tested the market with the special window for the Club World Cup and it was incredible to see that many players did not want to be in this competition, because they preferred to rest so they could start the new season fresh.
“With the 2026 World Cup coming to the United States next season, with more teams… The calendar is becoming exhausting and we have more injuries happening. The players cannot contribute to the show if they are not fresh.
“This comes at a bad time for European clubs. Some of us had to give players holidays and pick them up early, without them having time to reset. It is almost a continuation of last season and the next one is coming, so there was no reset.”
He added: “This is a difficult time for European clubs. There are clubs that have an advantage because they are at the beginning of the season, Brazilian and Argentine clubs for example.
“They are at the beginning, with 10 or 15 games. They are fresh. They have recently found a structure, practically in Brazil, and they have a lot of talent. Palmeiras invested a lot this season and I think it will be a great game against a great team.”
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