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Luuk de Jong made his Porto debut when the media still thought he was about to return to Sevilla. |
In an age where transfer news can be leaked with just a tweet, it would seem unthinkable for a club to keep a deal completely under wraps until the last minute. Yet Porto did it. No one – not even sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta – knew that Dutch striker Luuk de Jong had chosen to join the Portuguese club. It was a quiet move, but a sensation.
It seemed like he had already decided on Sevilla, but De Jong suddenly appeared at Estádio do Dragão, presenting himself to Porto fans wearing the number 26 shirt. No newspaper had any information in advance. No transfer journalist had any clue. Not only that, the entire recruitment campaign took place within... 48 hours. It was a "raid in the dark" by President Andre Villas-Boas and his associates - a display of negotiation, timing and secrecy to an almost absolute degree.
Porto knew one thing: every minute that passed was a risk of leaking. They approached De Jong directly, without intermediaries, and concluded the deal in just two days. Avoiding the fragmentation of information flow was key.
Former Ajax coach Francesco Farioli had a special advantage: he knew De Jong’s contract situation at PSV and knew that Sevilla had not yet completed the deal. Porto took advantage of this “one foot in, one foot out” moment to make the first move.
De Jong was not only convinced by the attractive football project. More importantly, he felt the initiative and seriousness of Porto. President Villas-Boas, director Jorge Costa and vice-president Tiago Madureira called him directly, spoke and presented the plan to use him as a key player - something that Sevilla probably lacked.
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Luuk de Jong is more than just a quality addition to Porto's attack. |
Director of Football Zubizarreta was not informed in advance. The rest of the Porto sporting hierarchy only found out an hour before De Jong set foot on the pitch. The Dutchman himself and his agent also maintained a perfect secrecy.
Villas-Boas is no stranger to striking from the shadows. Last year, Porto unveiled Samu Aghehowa at 1am on a Saturday morning. This summer, Jan Bednarek and Victor Froholdt were signed in a similarly quiet manner. Deals with no rumours, no pictures, no leaks – and then out of the blue.
The only failure was Gabri Veiga - but that was the exception, and as they say, the exception proves the rule.
In the age of Fabrizio Romano and Gerard Romero, where a WhatsApp message can instantly make headlines around the world , keeping a deal secret is almost impossible. But Porto, under Villas-Boas, are proving that there is another way – discreet, quiet and effective.
Luuk de Jong is not only a quality addition to Porto's attack. He is also the best example of a smart transfer strategy: unobtrusive, unhurried, but precise and timely. A successful deal not only on the pitch, but also a strategic and media victory - when silence becomes the loudest echo.
Source: https://znews.vn/vu-chuyen-nhuong-ky-la-gay-chan-dong-he-2025-post1574287.html
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