Hardly any FC Porto or Benfica fan misses Toni Martínez and Roman Yaremchuk. It is true that in the case of Porto fans this may not be so clear after Samu’s injury, but, in general, the Spaniard’s departure should not have kept many people up at night.
Well, they both found the “play”, after some time on the “pause“. Martínez, in the Spanish League, has 11 goals in 18 starts in 2026. Yaremchuk, in the French, has four goals in seven starts this year.
The Spaniard scored twice this Saturday in Alavés’ 2-1 defeat to Mallorca, with the right to reassembled and, above all, a pivotal triumph in the fight for permanence. The Ukrainian was also fundamental, with a brace in Lyon’s 3-2 defeat to Auxerre, a victory that allowed the team to reach the podium and a place to qualify for the Champions League.
“Slaughtered” by War
The Ukrainian became one of the most coveted forwards in Europe with the goals he scored in Belgium and has already turned over almost 40 million euros.
Perhaps there are few Ukrainian players whose performance could have been so affected by the war in the country. Rui Costa even told BTV some details. “People don’t know what he went through. There was the war in Ukraine, with his parents in the middle of the war. He lost six kilos in the first two or three weeks of the war. He was in tremendous spirit, but with real difficulty doing what he knows how to do.”
It is difficult to deny that, before the conflict broke out, Yaremchuk was no longer at a tremendous level. He scored seven goals from September to February, which is nothing to sneeze at, but also didn’t fully justify his goals. 20 million euros paid by Benfica to Gent.
Benfica and the player thought it was a good option to return to Belgium and, at the time, the Portuguese club managed to convince Brugge to pay 17 million euros – a lot for what the player had achieved in Lisbon, but logical due to the legitimate hope of a virtuous return to the context where he had thrived most: 40 goals in two seasons.
Fonseca saw something
With or without the effect of the war context in Ukraine, his return to Belgium continued to not go well, although the summer of 2023 allowed something: four goals in five games at the start of the following season convinced Valencia to want him in Spain – a modest performance, once again.
Then, Olympiakos paid a mere two million euros to have him and the player became financially one of the most disastrous signings in Brugge’s history, as it had been, by far – even by far – the most expensive transfer in the club’s history.
In Greece, as at Benfica, Brugge and Valencia, Yaremchuk returned to being what he had already been: a striker who was not completely useless, but also did not justify, in any way, the money he had already moved.
In France, Paulo Fonseca has gradually come to trust in the Ukrainian, even seeing that using him as a starter has been worth many goals.
At the end of the season, Lyon may or may not pay four million euros to keep him. And Yaremchuk may or may not be released by a club again, continuing a career of permanent disappointment.
Renovate or sell?
In the case of Toni Martínez, the story is much easier. With much of his training at Valencia and West Ham, the player ended up starting his senior career at the bottom – only in Famalicão did he start to find the goals.
At FC Porto he was always just a rotation player, with impact here and there from the bankbut, in general, with little finishing ability, even with relevant work without the ball.
Just like Benfica with Yaremchuk, FC Porto managed to get Martínez’s departure to Alavés to recover almost all of the investment (purchase for three million and sell for two) and, also like the Ukrainian, Martínez began by not being able to comply.
He only scored four goals last season, although it could be argued that he rarely started – nothing has changed in relation to FC Porto.
This season, however, he has been the main option for the attack. He already has 15 goals in the Spanish League and the contract until June 2027 suggests that the Spanish club has to make decisions: take advantage of these almost two dozen goals to sell him now or run the risk of losing him soon at no cost, if Martínez does not want to renew.
