Porto spent the last days of the transfer market looking for a left-back, ending up signing João Souza, on loan from Tottenham. However, according to newspaper Record, the dragons had another target during the summer window: Souffian El Karouani.
Francesco Farioli and André Villas-Boas even sent messages to the player's agent to convince Souffian El Karouani to change his mind. Farioli knew the player well, having been his opponent in the Eredivisie, and considered him an important signing for Porto.
Despite the Portistas' insistence, El Karouani did not give in and kept the word he had already given to Rui Costa and Marco Silva, ending up heading to Benfica. The player ended up moving to the eagles even before officially debuting for Al Qadisiyah, where he transferred this summer.
With El Karouani out of the question, Porto ended up signing him as a solution for the left-back position. João Souza, who was also associated with the eagles, thus ended up being chosen by the dragons to fill the absence of the signing that ultimately did not materialize.
