FC Porto President Andre Villas-Boas has explained why his club allowed Portugal international Francisco Conceicao leave on a straight, season-long loan deal to Juventus over the summer, and not with an option to buy.
Villas-Boas explained that Porto ‘decided it was best’ to allow Conceicao to leave on loan for the season after an internal conflict involving his father and former Porto head coach Sergio Conceicao.
Sergio Conceicao had served as Porto’s head coach for seven seasons between 2017 and 2024, but left at the start of the summer shortly after Villas-Boas’s appointment as club President.
Conceicao Sr. had put pen to paper on a new contract until 2028 prior to AVB’s arrival, but then announced his departure at the end of June. He was replaced by his former assistant Vitor Bruno.
Sky Sport Italia report that Conceicao had felt ‘betrayed’ by Vitor Bruno, a close friend with whom he had worked since 2011. Vitor Bruno had reportedly negotiated for the head coach role without Conceicao’s knowledge.
Given the slightly chaotic change of head coaches, and Francisco Conceicao’s family connections, Villa-Boas says that it was in everybody’s best interests to let the player leave for Juventus on a temporary loan.
His explanation came with an encouraging review of Francisco Conceicao’s ability and potential.
“We made this agreement with Juventus on loan without a buy option: A loan of €7m that can go up to €10m. He’s an important player for us, let’s see how it goes,” Villas-Boas said at an event in Trento on Friday.
“Obviously a talent like him costs a lot, that’s why Jvuve valued him like that. In the end, there was an emotional element involved, linked to his father. Along with his agent, we decided that it was best for everyone to spend this season out on loan.
“He’s doing really well, it’s a shame about the red-card and the injury before, but he’s a very good player who can go very high in his career.”
