In Ruben Amorim, Man Utd have tapped into Premier League’s overseas secret

Ruben Amorim is the latest Portuguese to make the journey to the Premier League and, while nationality alone offers no guarantee of success, Manchester United’s new head coach will hope he can maintain a strong tradition that has seen so many of his compatriots excel in England. They are, in many respects, the Premier League’s great tourists.

The Portuguese, for example, account for the highest percentage of Premier League winners (see below). From Cristiano Ronaldo and Ricardo Carvalho to Luis Boa Morte and Bernardo Silva, 17 of the 96 Portuguese to have played in the Premier League boast winners’ medals.

Portuguese players also have the second highest win percentage of any nationality (46.1 per cent) in the competition, behind only Brazilians and, even then, there are correlations given the number of players from Brazil who funnel through Portugal’s Primeira Liga en route to England.

Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson and former Chelsea players David Luiz and Ramires, all of whom were signed from Benfica, are just three in a long line of Brazilians who played in Portugal before arriving in the Premier League.

On the management front, Jose Mourinho, a three-time Premier League winner with Chelsea and mentor to Amorim among many others, stands out as the godfather of modern Portuguese coaches whose influence can still be felt now.

Nuno Espirito Santo, the former Wolves and Tottenham manager, who won the Champions League under Mourinho at Porto in 2004, is currently in charge of a Nottingham Forest side who are fifth in the Premier League, level on points with Chelsea and Arsenal. Two places behind them are Fulham, another team impressing under Portuguese management and a Mourinho disciple in Marco Silva.

Andre Villas-Boas, the former Chelsea and Tottenham head coach, who has the second best win percentage of all Portuguese coaches in the Premier League, ex-Wolves manager Bruno Lage and Carlos Carvalhal, who had less joy at Swansea City following a successful stint at Sheffield Wednesday, complete the group. Amorim is the seventh Portuguese to manage in the Premier League. And few would be too surprised if Sergio Conceicao, who left Porto in the summer after seven seasons, was to become the next coach from the Iberian Peninsula to rock up in the Premier League sometime soon.

So why do the Portuguese travel so well? What is it that makes them so suited to the Premier League when other nationalities, such as the Dutch, Italians and Germans, often find the transition to England’s top flight much harder? How have they become so adaptable, dependable and battle hardened?

There are an array of factors at work but, in the first instance, it is worth remembering that Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration in the 15th to 17th century, chronicling and mapping the coasts of Africa and Asia and parts of South America in what became known as the Age of Discovery.

That may have little to do with how well Bruno Fernandes picks a pass or Ruben Dias reads the game but, from those early maritime explorations onwards, the Portuguese have culturally and historically always embraced new horizons and cultures and been less afraid of venturing into the unknown.

“That should not be underestimated,” says one former Premier League manager with experience of working with Portuguese players. “Portugal only has a population of 10½ million but they are a country of navigators, it’s in the culture of their people to go out and explore. A lot of Portuguese people come out speaking Spanish and English in addition to their native tongue, it’s quite the norm, which breaks down language barriers others may encounter, and they are very open minded and sure in what they do. They have huge confidence to go abroad and adapt.”

Diogo Dalot believes the Portuguese have a certain mindset. “It’s a matter of culture, mentality,” the United defender, signed from Porto in 2019, says. “A feeling that to get that recognition you deserve you always have to fight to go abroad, but also this mentality that all the time we are constantly trying to prove we can be better and better each year.”

‘Portugal is a small country with a global mentality’

Ronaldo, who left Sporting for United aged 18 in 2003, has said: “Growing up in Portugal, there was always the dream of playing for the biggest clubs. From a young age, I was taught to work hard and chase that dream, to leave my comfort zone and push myself. It’s the same for many Portuguese players.”

Or as Luis Figo, the former Real Madrid winger and Ballon d’Or winner, once put it: “Portugal is a small country but we have a global mentality. Our players are often given the chance to play abroad from a young age, and that experience in different leagues helps them improve and gain exposure.”

A senior recruitment figure at one Premier League club told Telegraph Sport it is “a commonly held view” among many top-flight English clubs that Portuguese players are likely to need a lot less adaptation time, on and off the pitch, than many of their foreign counterparts and it adds to their appeal.

A report this week by the CIES Football Observatory revealed that Portuguese clubs had made a total net profit of just under £2 billion in the transfer market over the past decade, around £750 million more than any other nation – which underlines the popularity and success of Portugal’s footballing exports. There are currently 86 Portuguese players playing across Europe’s “big five” leagues in England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France.

Of course, there are not just cultural reasons for that. A strong, dynamic youth development infrastructure and national set-up and the high technical and tactical proficiency of players and coaches are fundamental to Portugal’s success. Coupled with a proud, passionate football identity embodied by the hugely supported “big three” of Benfica, Porto and Sporting, it is little surprise the country produces such durable footballers.

“Portugal’s footballing success is rooted in its youth development programmes,” said former Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz, who also led the country’s Under-20 teams to Fifa World Youth Championship victories in 1989 and 1991. “The country has invested heavily in grass roots and academy structures that produce talented players with a strong tactical understanding and technical skills.”

Whereas England has historically been obsessed by the cult of the manager as motivator and invariably been guilty of giving jobs to people based on their former profile as players, Portugal have been less in thrall to ego and status down the decades than methodology and meticulous process. The country’s coaches – and by extension its players – owe much to the tactical periodisation model devised by the Portuguese academic Vitor Frade in the classrooms of the University of Porto around 40 years ago, a philosophy espoused by Mourinho among others.

“Portuguese players are well prepared technically and tactically,” Mourinho has said. “From a young age, they are taught the importance of understanding the game, not just the physicality of it.”

‘The way we are trained in Portugal helps us’

Being able to process lots of information in those early, formative years helps to explain why so many Portuguese players prove so adept at digesting the myriad demands of the Premier League, which has the biggest and most intense mixture of tactical styles of any league in Europe. “Portuguese players are very tactical, we know how to adapt to different styles of play,” says Jose Fonte, the former Southampton and Portugal defender. “The Premier League is very competitive but it’s a league where a tactical understanding of the game is crucial. That’s something we bring from Portugal and it helps us perform well.”

Pedro Neto, who joined Wolves from Braga in 2019 before a move to Chelsea in the summer, echoes those sentiments. “The Premier League is very fast, very intense. It’s a great challenge for any player,” the Portugal winger says. “I think the way we are trained in Portugal helps us adapt. The work ethic, the discipline, and the technical ability are all important here, and I feel that makes it easier for us to settle.”

A joined-up league structure, with a good under-23s competition and B teams of the big clubs competing in the second and third tiers, also ensures there are few “black holes” for players in the problematic 17-19 age category, a key development period. Equally, there is no risk of young players being given too much too soon and losing hunger and focus, which is an increasing problem at big clubs in England and Spain, where 17-year-old players are being handed first professional contracts worth £30,000 a week in some cases.

“There’s this situation now where someone at 16 does two good dribbles and in everyone’s eyes has a career and becomes a brand, but then may think he doesn’t really need to work hard and it’s almost like he’s lost really,” says the former Premier League manager. “That culture does not exist in Portugal. The structure is very clear. If you misbehave or do the wrong things, you’re out, and someone who is behaving well and giving it everything will get the opportunity.”

While there is a huge competitive imbalance in the Portuguese top flight, with TV money heavily weighted towards Benfica, Porto and Sporting, who often enjoy the benefits of Champions League broadcast income and whose talents traditionally service Premier League clubs among others, the league has plenty of upsides. Teams are broadly well coached and there is a robust environment to develop, educate and filter players, including raw talent from South America.

“We have a proud footballing identity,” Fernando Santos, who guided Portugal to glory at Euro 2016, says. “Portuguese footballers are known for their skill, resilience, and ability to adapt to different styles. This adaptability is what helps them thrive in foreign leagues.”

Amorim will hope he can end up saying the same.