And remember Seferovic and Marega actually scored double digits last season
I think Benfica and Porto lost too much focus on their transfer policies: suddenly they are hiring expensive players and some of them are not even youngsters with potential, which is a baffling decision.
Portuguese clubs rely too much on future sale incomes, and this is a high-risk strategy because you just need a couple of seasons where you are not able to make enough transfer money to break even to things to go downhill, and fast.
Buying players who are no longer U23 like Vinicius, Weigl, Raul de Tomás, Marchesin, Nakajima, Zé Luís, Uribe, Saravia, Vietto and even Sporar would only make sense if they were at bargain prices, because they are high risk transfers, even if they eventually deliver quality, for several reasons:
- Players who are no longer U23 are not so marketable and have less transfer potential.
- These players who are expensive also will demand a higher base salary due to their career experience.
- If they fail to make an immediate impact, they will become a burden not only because you can't recover the transfer money, you also can't find many clubs willing to loan him supporting his wage.