Sporting CP most expensive player sales - How Lisbon giants made over €750 million in outgoing transfers

After joining Sporting in 2018 following a strong season at Fluminense, Wendel found it difficult to adjust to new conditions in Portugal in his first few games for the club.

However, he started earning more caps after the appointment of Marcel Keizer as coach, but then suffered a knee injury which left him out for two months towards the end of 2018.

After returning, he wasn't the same player anymore and with immense competition for midfield spots at Sporting, Wendel was sold to Zenit in 2020 for a decent €20.30 million.

At Zenit, Wendel is performing rather well and he even scored the first hat-trick of his career in his team's 8-0 win against Orenburg.

After making his debut for Sporting in August 2007, Adrien Silva became a mainstay in their team for the best part of a decade.

However, these 10 years at Sporting include a loan move at Academica in 2011, where he helped his new team defeat Porto in the fourth round and Sporting in the final on their way to lift the Portuguese Cup for the first time in 73 years.

He then returned to Lisbon in the summer of 2012 and was awarded the club's Player of the Year award in November 2013.

Fast forward to the summer of 2017, Sporting sold Silva to Leicester City for €20.5m, a move that didn't quite work out as he made just 14 appearances for the Foxes in a three-year spell, which included a season on loan at Monaco.

After two seasons at Vitoria Guimaraes, Raphinha joined Sporting CP in the summer of 2018.

He scored his first goal for the club against Qarabag in the Europa League in 2018-19 and went on to lift the Taca de Portugal after scoring a penalty in the shootout victory against Porto.

After making 28 appearances during his only season at the club, the Brazilian joined French club Rennes for €21m in 2019.

After just one season in France, Raphinha later ended up joining Leeds in the Premier League in 2020 and then made the big-money switch to Barcelona in 2022.

Martins was born and raised in Cape Verde, but moved to Portugal as a teenager, playing at youth level with both Benfica and Sporting before he gained promotion to the senior side in 2014.

The winger, who became a Portuguese citizen in 2016, made 125 appearances for the Lisbon team, winning two trophies during his three-year tenure at the club.

In May 2018, an incident involving a group of around 50 fans entering Sporting's training centre who assaulted several players and staff members led to Martins requesting the club to terminate his contract in June.

In July 2018, Atletico Madrid came calling and announced his capture on a free transfer.

Sporting made an official complaint to FIFA over the transfer and demanded compensation of €100m, but the clubs eventually reached an agreement for a €22m fee.

Martins survived just six months at Atletico before being loaned to Monaco in January 2019, eventually being sold to them for €30m.

Nani joined Sporting CP in 2005 and immediately started impressing with his performances in all competitions.

After consistent performances, Nani peaked at Sporting in 2006, helping them win the 2006-07 Taca de Portugal.

In the summer of 2007, Manchester United came calling and Sporting agreed to let him go for €25.5m.

The Portuguese winger went on to have a superb career at Old Trafford, winning four Premier League titles, two League Cups and a Champions League with Manchester United.

After an eight-year spell at United, Nani returned to Sporting on loan for a year before moving to Fenerbahce for a season.

He then joined Valencia for a two-season spell, out of which he spent one-season on loan at Lazio.

In 2018, he returned to Sporting for a season before moving to the MLS with Orlando City in 2019.

After two seasons in the MLS, Nani joined Serie A club Venezia in January 2022, before signing a two-year deal with Australian club Melbourne Victory in the summer of 2022.

Sporting sold Slimani to newly-crowned Premier League champions Leicester in the summer of 2016 for €31m.

He signed a five-year contract with the Foxes, making his debut for them in the Champions League in September 2016 as they won 3-0 against Club Brugge.

Three days later, he made his Premier League debut in a 3-0 win against Burnley, in which he scored a brace.

Slimani then featured in the African Cup of Nations for Algeria, suffering an injury which hampered his playing time at Leicester.

He was loaned to Newcastle in the January transfer window of 2018, before being later loaned to Fenerbahce and Monaco.

He then joined Lyon on a free transfer in 2021, before returning to Sporting for six months and then joining French side Brest in August 2022.

One of the few players to have benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic, Nuno Mendes was one of the youth players called up to Sporting's first team by manager Ruben Amorim in 2020.

At just the age of 18, the Portuguese left-back became the club's first choice in that position, becoming the youngest player to make the club's starting XI since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2002.

Mendes signed a contract extension in December 2020, thus increasing his buyout clause from €45m to €70m.

PSG were left impressed with his performances and decided to sign him on a one-season loan worth €7m, with an option to buy.

Mendes was one of the best performers in PSG's Ligue 1 glory in the 2021-22 season and the French giants decided to trigger his buyout clause of €38m in May 2022.

One of those few players to have played for both Sporting and rivals Benfica, Joao Mario rose through Sporting's academy before starting his first full season as a senior in 2012-13.

After five successful years at Sporting in different capacities, Inter came calling, agreeing to pay a fee of €41m for his signature in the summer of 2016.

Mario was left frustrated with new manager Luciano Spalletti's decision to not give him much game time and in January 2018, he joined West Ham on loan until the end of the season.

After another season of frustration at Inter in 2018-19, the Portuguese midfielder joined Lokomotiv Moscow on a season-long loan in 2019.

Mario returned to Sporting in 2020 for another loan spell, before mutually terminating his contract with the club and joining Benfica on a five-year deal in the summer of 2021.

After an incredible three years with Sporting between 2019 to 2022 in which he helped them win a league title and three other trophies, Matheus Nunes was sold to Wolves in the summer of 2022 for an eye-watering €45m.

This made Nunes the most expensive transfer in Wolves' history, surpassing former record signing and compatriot Fabio Silva.

The combative midfielder has been decent for Wolves in his first season at the club in the Premier League.

The biggest praise on Nunes was famously handed out by Pep Guardiola in February 2022 when after Sporting's 5-0 loss to Manchester City, the Spanish coach termed Nunes as "one of the best players in the world."

After featuring in Italy at the start of his career with Novara, Udinese and Sampdoria, Bruno Fernandes eventually returned home to Portugal in 2017, joining Sporting from Sampdoria in a deal worth €9.7m.

In his three-season spell at Sporting, Fernandes became their best player, winning the league's player of the year award in 2018, before signing a new five-year deal with the club containing a €100m release clause.

It was between 2018 to 2020 that Fernandes truly rose to prominence as one of the best players in the world after becoming the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe.

In January of 2020, Manchester United came calling and agreed a deal with Sporting worth €63m.

Fernandes signed a five-and-a-half-year contract at Old Trafford and has been one of United's best performers till date.