By Alex Roberts
In the midst of André Villas-Boas being voted in as the new president, replacing long-serving Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa, manager Vítor Bruno being sacked and replaced by Martin Anselmi, and the sale of several star players, 18-year-old Rodrigo Mora has been one of the few consistencies.
Not so long ago, he was ripping it up in the Porto under-17s. At just 15, he was a world apart, notably coming on at half time with the score at 0-0 in their match against Palmeiras all the way back in October 2022 and completely changing the game.
By the time the final whistle blew, Porto were 6-0 winners. Mora came on to score four goals in the span of 32 minutes and the powers that be knew they had their hands on a truly special youngster.
Mora is arguably the best talent Portugal have produced since João Félix at Benfica and the comparisons don’t end there. They play in almost the exact same position, off the left and cutting inside to play in the space between the wing and the ten. Plus, they have the same Baby-era Justin Bieber haircut.
Like Félix, Mora relies in his movement and close control to get the better of opposition defenders. He’s quite small, 5′ 6″ to be exact, and he uses that to his advantage. His low centre of gravity makes him hard to get a hold of.
He also has a fantastic first touch, earning the trust of his teammates should they feel the need to fizz in a pass or switch play with a high looping ball. Once taking the ball down, Mora will get going without thinking twice, using his impressive balance and acceleration to start the attack.
Felix, is in fact, the perfect cautionary tale for Mora. Unloved by his last four clubs, Atlético Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, and now AC Milan, the Porto youngster should look at his countryman’s career and learn that the grass isn’t always greener, especially since it’s looking like Félix will end up back at Benfica this summer.
2024-25 was Mora’s first full season with the first team. At youth level, he was a big fish in a small pond, being named in the UEFA Youth League 23/24 Team of the Tournament for his performances as joint top goal scorer for the eventual runners up.
He also made Liga Portugal history as the youngest starting debutant – alongside Chelsea-bound Geovany Quenda – in the competition’s history, as well as becoming youngest player to score and assist in the same game in the last 35 years.
It was Bruno who gave Mora his debut in the 3-2 Europa League defeat to Bodø/Glimt back in September 2024. In all honesty, he didn’t have much of an impact, coming on for the final 21 minutes for Marko Grujić.
It was only a cameo, but Bruno liked what he saw enough to give him another one four days later as his side earned a comfortable 4-0 Liga Portugal win over Arouca. Mora then remained on the bench for Porto’s next three games.
Finally, in an away trip to AVS Futebol SAD, Mora bagged his first senior goal, albeit via a pretty heavy deflection. He received the ball from João Mário just inside the box, got it under control, faked a shot, and scored before wheeling away in celebration.
Bruno did a lot of wrong things while at the helm but the way he managed Mora was spot on. Limiting his minutes until he became too hard to ignore, starting just three of Bruno’s 18 matches in charge of Porto, with his nine appearances overall totalling 303 minutes.
It was the game against Moreirense in late December he fully exploded onto the scene, assisting the opener for Samuel Aghehowa before going on to score the second of their three goals with a fine finish following some pinball in the box.
He then went on to score and assist in the game against Boavista a week later. So, by the time 2025 rolled around, he already had six goal involvements in 247 minutes of action across all competitions.
Then, in January, everything changed. Bruno was gone just before the end of the month, replaced by Martin Anselmi and the main obstacle to Mora ascension to a bona fide starter, Wenderson Galeno, was sold to Al Ahli.
Anselmi came in with a new system with Mora operating as the right-sided number 10 behind Aghehowa. But he has also operated on the left of a front three this season, and as the sole number 10 in a 3-4-1-2 system.
With Galeno gone, Mora started all but one of the next 15 games he played across all competitions under Anselmi, ending the season with 10 goals and four assists in the league.
Before he turned 18 in May, only Lamine Yamal had more goal contributions among players under that age across Europe’s top 10 leagues with 18. That’s pretty good company considering Yamal is one of the favourites to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.
Now, Mora is with Porto for their FIFA Club World Cup campaign – where they face Inter Miami tonight – and playing alongside some of the best young talents the world has on offer. He featured against Estêvão in their first game vs Palmeiras, although neither were able to break the deadlock.
During a time of transition, the likes of which Porto haven’t seen for decades, they’re in need of a poster boy, someone the fans can rally around and point to when the project has its inevitable bumps in the road.
Unfortunately for the club, it’s been reported that he has a release clause of €45 million to €80m in his contract, so he’ll probably be wearing a Chelsea shirt by next summer.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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