Francisco Trincão has completed his move from Sporting CP to Saudi Pro League club Al Ahli, in a deal confirmed on 18 July 2026. The transfer is built around a fixed fee of around €40m, with a further sum of up to €5m available in performance-related add-ons that could take the total value closer to €45m. The 26-year-old has signed a four-year contract, running to 2030, and will wear the number 7 shirt at his new club.
Al Ahli moved for Trincão as the long-term successor to Riyad Mahrez, whose four years at the club have now come to an end. Manager Matthias Jaissle wanted a younger, more dynamic option to lead the right side of his attack, and Trincão's habit of cutting inside off the right and shooting or creating with his favoured left foot fits that profile. Speaking after his unveiling, Trincão said the passion of the club's supporters was one of the main reasons he chose to move to Saudi Arabia.
For Sporting, it is a significant loss. Trincão originally joined on loan from Barcelona in 2022 before the move was made permanent, and across four seasons in Lisbon he made 208 appearances and scored 47 goals, while winning back-to-back league titles in 2023-24 and 2024-25 as well as the Portuguese Cup. His exit comes only days after captain Morten Hjulmand also left the club, and it forms part of a wider push by Sporting to trim their wage bill this summer, with playmaker Pedro Gonçalves reportedly the next player they could be willing to sell. Head coach Rui Borges has already brought in Rodrigo Zalazar and Pedro Lima, plus the loan signing of Jesse Derry, as he reshapes his squad without Trincão.
Trincão was in excellent form right up until his departure. He contributed 13 goals and 15 assists in 54 matches across all competitions last season, then followed that up in 2025-26 with 7 goals and 11 assists in 34 Liga Portugal appearances — more assists than anyone else in the Sporting squad — plus four goals and four assists in 11 Champions League games. That level of end product is what made him one of the most sought-after wide players in Portuguese football this summer.
At Al Ahli, Trincão joins a squad built for the top end of Saudi and Asian football, with Ivan Toney the focal point in attack after a prolific season in front of goal, alongside Roberto Firmino and Franck Kessié in a group managed by Jaissle, who led Al Ahli to the AFC Champions League Elite title last season. Trincão's job will be to supply Toney and the rest of the front line from wide right, either as an out-and-out winger or in a slightly deeper attacking role, while also chipping in with goals of his own, much as he did during his best years at Sporting.
The deal is part of a busy summer of Saudi interest in Portuguese talent, with Al Ahli among several Saudi Pro League clubs continuing to spend heavily on established European performers. For Sporting, the fee recouped is expected to help fund further incomings as Borges looks to replace both Trincão and Hjulmand before the new Liga Portugal season begins.