The 14 least powerful clubs in the Portuguese League lost purchasing power in the 2026/27 transfer window, recording a drop of 23.6 million euros in acquisitions (to just 26.4 million) and a decline of 11.5 million in sales (to 106.6 million). This reality contrasts with the overall landscape of the League, which closed with 545.9 million in sales, a growth of 63.2 million compared to the previous season. The four major clubs (Sporting, Benfica, FC Porto and Braga) dominated the revenue with almost 440 million, while the smaller clubs contributed only 106.6 million.
Famalicão stood out among the smaller clubs by achieving the third best financial balance in the League, with a positive balance of 36.2 million euros. The Minho club sold players for 42.7 million (including Gustavo Sá and Ibrahima Ba for sums exceeding 20 million each) and spent only 6.5 million. Vitória SC and Estoril Praia completed the top 3 of small clubs with the most sales, closing with positive balances of 21 million and 9.3 million respectively. Four clubs ended the market in the red: Rio Ave, Arouca, Moreirense and Alverca.
Despite losing share in sales, the 14 least valuable clubs in the League increased their market value by 100 million euros, rising from 400 to 500 million. Casa Pia grew 28.9% and Estrela da Amadora recorded the highest appreciation at 35.9%, with their SAD being sold for 40 million euros, a record in Portugal. In the SAD valuation, Vitória SC ranks fifth with 52.51 million euros, followed by Famalicão with 51.52 million, while Rio Ave appears last among the 14 clubs with 18.96 million.
In Liga 2, the 18 clubs registered an investment of 8.6 million euros in transfers, the highest value since 2017/18, driven mainly by FC Porto's B team. Despite the low investment, they achieved the highest revenue from transfers in the history of the championship, with sales of 42.1 million euros, almost half of the total of the 14 smaller clubs in the top flight. Benfica's B team was responsible for the largest share of those sales with a return of 16 million euros.
