Portugal's summer transfer window closed on Friday, with Sporting Clube de Portugal, Futebol Clube do Porto and Sport Lisboa e Benfica ending the market a combined 126 million euros in profit, Correio da Manhã reported.
The three clubs are Portugal's traditional powers, dominating the Primeira Liga title race for decades and regularly representing the country in European competition, including the UEFA Champions League.
Most of Europe's major transfer markets have already shut. Saudi Arabia's window, which runs until Sunday, and Brazil's, open until the 11th, are the main exceptions still to close.
Spending and sales
Between them, Portugal's three perennial title challengers spent 247 million euros bringing in new players this summer. That outlay was comfortably covered by 373 million euros raised through player sales.
The totals include deals completed during this window, among them Sporting's sale of winger Quenda, a product of the club's academy, to Chelsea Football Club. The move had reportedly been agreed a year and a half earlier.
Also factored in were Benfica's purchases of Ukraine international midfielder Georgiy Sudakov and Argentine midfielder Enzo Barrenechea, along with FC Porto's signing of Poland defender Jakub Kiwior.
Sporting's overhaul
Sporting was the busiest of the three clubs. The Lisbon side used income of more than 200 million euros from departing players to fund a wide-ranging reshuffle of its squad, spending 123 million euros on incoming transfers.
According to the caption accompanying the report, the signing of Zalazar was the most expensive incoming deal completed by any of the three clubs this summer.
Porto and Benfica's approach
FC Porto took a different route, prioritising the retention of their leading players and strengthening the squad mainly through loan signings.
Benfica followed a similar path, recruiting several new faces on temporary deals rather than permanent transfers.
Wider transfer market
Correio da Manhã also reported that Portuguese international players were collectively involved in transfers worth more than 300 million euros this summer.
In England, the Premier League set a new spending record in the transfer market, with clubs paying out 4.1 billion, according to the same report.
The report additionally noted that midfielder Mateus Fernandes, who left Sporting for the Premier League, has already been involved in transfers worth a combined 166 million euros.
