A Name to Remember: João Moutinho

By: Bob | June 13th, 2007

It would be easy to believe that with Manchester United’s recent shopping spree that all of the best young talent in Portugal has been bought. That would be incorrect. Case in point, João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho. The 20-year-old Sporting midfielder is one of the best young talents in Europe and he could be one of the next young Portuguese players to go abroad.

João Moutinho is a product of the renowned Sporting youth system. He signed with the club at the awkward, yet tender, age of 13 and made his debut for the first team when he was 17 years old. Since then, he has become a mainstay in the Sporting lineup. Last year he was the only player in Portugal to play in every minute of every league game. He has also featured for Portugal’s senior team and he is currently a stud on the U21 side.

Sporting recently signed João Moutinho to a contract that is good until 2013, but that probably won’t prevent some bigger clubs from trying to poach him. The reported asking price is £15 million and the potential suitors include the usual suspects like Inter Milan, Barcelona, Arsenal, and, yes, Manchester United.

Lauded for his passing skills and determination, João Moutinho is A Name to Remember and a player to keep an eye on, which is easy enough because there are a gazillion YouTube videos of him including the one below.

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Category: Europe, World Football

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natashia botelho

i'll make sure i keep an eye on joao moutinho since he is so hot and a really great player :)
Corey

Problem is they are crap as a team, as evidence by there terrible display at last years youth tournament and this years which they are only gonna go through to the next round if they beat Isreal and Belgium loses.
Also, you failed to mention Joao Moreira, he is an incredible stiekr, plays for Valencia, why there is also Amorienha and Organista who scolari has looked at.
Luis

P.S. Portugal has one of the deepest talent pools in Europe. Keep digging. There are other gems waiting to be discovered - Miguel Veloso, Yannick Djalo, Silvestre Varela and many more. I think you're going to need a dedicated category soon. PT Names to Remember:
Luis

Glad you guys finally noticed. Appreciate the highlight Bob, but he's been a mainstay of Portuguese football for a quite some time now.
Greg

He's mature beyond his years and it comes through in his interactions with the press. He's a bulldog and a fun player to watch. Two young players bought and someone's going to assume all the young talent's gone? I sure hope not, especially not from this league. I second ALL of Corey's assertions by the way.
Corey

Now theres a player I have liked for awhile along with Nani and Anderson, and would do well in Italy or Spain. Roma would be a good spot for him, or Valencia if he could find room in their lineups. Also, Sporting has plenty of good youngsters, Miguel Veloso is a quality DM with passing ability, while Paolo Machado is more of a box to box midfielder. Portugal has got the goods right now, along with belgium and France they have the best young players.
Chris

He's the new Diego. Good call, Bob.