Prestianni’s Value Doubles to €40m as Samu Loses Liga Portugal Top Spot

Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni saw his market value double to €40 million in Transfermarkt’s September 29, 2026 update for Liga Portugal, the single biggest riser in the league, while Porto forward Samu fell €5 million to the same €40 million figure and was overtaken as the competition’s most valuable player by FC Porto’s Victor Fröholdt, now valued at €50 million.

The recalibration, published after the summer transfer window closed, reshuffles the hierarchy of Portugal’s top flight and reflects sharply diverging trajectories for two of the league’s most closely watched young talents heading into the 2026/27 season.

Direct Answer: What Changed in the Liga Portugal Valuations

In the update dated September 29, 2026, Transfermarkt raised Argentina international Gianluca Prestianni’s market value from €20 million to €40 million, the largest single increase of any Liga Portugal player in this cycle. In the same update, Porto attacker Samu was cut from €45 million to €40 million, one of three players — alongside Sporting-linked defender Gonçalo Inácio and Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin — to lose €5 million. The result is that Samu, previously the league’s top-valued player, now sits in a four-way tie for second, while Victor Fröholdt has emerged as the outright leader at €50 million.

Prestianni’s €20 Million Jump: The League’s Biggest Riser

Prestianni, an Argentina international winger who joined Benfica in 2024 in a deal reported at around €9 million, has become the standout name of the September 29 update after his valuation doubled overnight on Transfermarkt’s books. The jump from €20 million to €40 million represents the single biggest increase awarded to any player in the Portuguese top flight in this cycle, according to Transfermarkt’s market-value database, which tracks player valuations based on performance data, age, contract status and transfer-market trends.

The revaluation places Prestianni into a tie for second-most-valuable player in Liga Portugal, level with Braga winger Andreas Schjelderup, both now valued at €40 million — the same figure now attached to Samu following his own decline. For a player valued at less than half that figure little over a year ago, the update marks one of the most significant single-window value increases seen in Portuguese football this year.

Prestianni’s rise comes against a backdrop of broader transfer-market scrutiny across Europe’s major leagues this year, with clubs in England continuing to monitor rising South American and emerging-market talent — a pattern also visible in the ongoing interest around Real Madrid and Barcelona’s pursuit of Mexican teenager Gilberto Mora.

Samu Falls €5 Million and Loses the League’s Top Spot

Samu, the Porto forward who had been Liga Portugal’s most valuable player, was cut from €45 million to €40 million in the same update — a €5 million reduction that places him among the update’s biggest fallers alongside Gonçalo Inácio, whose value dropped to €35 million, and Benfica goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin, who fell to €20 million. Each of the three players lost exactly €5 million in the recalibration, according to Transfermarkt’s figures.

The decline ends Samu’s run at the top of the league’s valuation table. He is now level with Prestianni and Schjelderup at €40 million, while Fröholdt has moved clear at €50 million to become the outright most valuable player in Portuguese football’s top division. The shift illustrates how quickly Transfermarkt’s post-window recalibrations can alter a league’s value hierarchy even without a single transfer taking place, since the figures are compiled from performance data, playing time, age curves and broader market sentiment rather than confirmed deals.

Fröholdt Emerges as Liga Portugal’s Most Valuable Player

Victor Fröholdt’s rise to €50 million makes him the new benchmark figure in Liga Portugal’s valuation table, ahead of the trio tied at €40 million. His emergence at the top, alongside Prestianni’s doubling and Samu’s fall, underscores how unsettled the value picture has become at Porto and Benfica simultaneously — two clubs that have historically anchored the league’s transfer economy alongside Sporting.

Club-Level Picture: Porto Leads, Benfica Overtakes Sporting

Beyond individual valuations, the September 29 update also reshuffled club-level market value in Liga Portugal. FC Porto leads the overall club rankings, while Benfica has overtaken Sporting for second place in total squad value, according to Portuguese reporting on the update. Benfica’s improved standing is driven in large part by Prestianni’s surge, alongside broader gains across the squad that have offset Trubin’s individual decline.

The timing of the update — arriving after the summer transfer window closed on September 1 — means the figures represent a pure performance-and-form recalibration rather than a reaction to confirmed transfer activity. Transfermarkt typically issues these adjustments periodically through the season, incorporating playing time, output and broader market sentiment gathered from its network of contributors and scouts.

Why Market Value Updates Matter for Transfer Negotiations

Transfermarkt valuations are not official transfer fees, but they function as an influential reference point across the football industry — cited by agents, pundits and even clubs during negotiations. A doubling in value, as seen with Prestianni, typically signals rising external interest and can embolden a selling club’s asking price in future negotiations, even in the absence of a concrete offer. Conversely, a decline such as Samu’s can reflect reduced playing time, a plateau in output, or simply a market recalibration relative to rapidly rising peers elsewhere in the league.

These valuation swings sit within a wider European context of record transfer spending. The continent’s transfer market broke previous spending records this year, a trend UEFA has flagged with concern, and rising valuations for emerging talents like Prestianni are part of that broader inflationary pattern across Europe’s top leagues, including the ongoing scrutiny of major English clubs’ spending, such as the continuing fallout from Manchester City’s Premier League financial charges case.

What to Watch Next

• Whether Prestianni’s doubled valuation translates into concrete transfer interest from clubs outside Portugal ahead of the January window.
• How Samu responds on the pitch for Porto following his valuation drop, and whether his form data prompts a correction in the next Transfermarkt update.
• Whether Benfica’s overtaking of Sporting in club-level market value is sustained through the rest of the 2026/27 season.
• Further movement among the cluster of players tied at €40 million, including Schjelderup at Braga, as the season progresses.

Limitations of This Report

This article is based on Transfermarkt’s September 29, 2026 market-value update and Portuguese-language reporting on the club-level rankings. Market valuations are analytical estimates compiled by Transfermarkt’s contributor network, not confirmed transfer fees or club-verified figures, and should be read as an industry reference point rather than an official financial statement. No club or player has issued a direct statement on the individual valuation changes described here.

Sources

• Football transfers, rumours, market values and news — transfermarkt.com
• Liga Portugal market values: Samu drops (again), Prestianni doubles his market value — transfermarkt.com
• Transfermarkt atualiza valores: Prestianni duplica cotação e Benfica ultrapassa Sporting — record.pt
• SL Benfica – Market value at debut – Transfermarkt — transfermarkt.us
• Most valuable player outside the ‘Big 5’ is at FC Porto – OneFootball — onefootball.com

Photo: Tetraktys (Ricardo André Frantz), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons