Attacker Gonçalo Paciência joins the Main from Portuguese champions FC Porto. The son of Porto legend Domingos Paciência came through all the youth teams at both the top club and the Portuguese FA and was runner-up with Portugal's U21s in 2015. The 23-year-old also took part in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and made his senior debut last year.
"We are getting a real centre-forward with him, which makes our squad even more variable," said sporting director Fredi Bobic. "Gonçalo is a mobile player, but he can also keep the ball up front." Paciência will receive a four-year contract at Eintracht Frankfurt until 2022. The player will initially undergo tests in Frankfurt and will therefore not travel to the training camp in the USA.
Paciência was practically born with his talent. His father Domingos Paciência is an FC Porto legend. He played 263 games for the Dragons, scoring a whopping 106 goals. Seven times Portuguese champion, five times cup winner, once Portugal's Footballer of the Year and once top scorer is his excellent record. So the footprints he has left for his sons are big. While their father took up coaching after his active career, his two offspring Gonçalo and Vasco learned to play football at FC Porto. The right-footer started playing for FCP at the age of eight and went through the entire youth programme of one of the biggest talent pools in Europe. He then went on to score for the B team and then the A team. During that time, Paciência was also in demand with the Portugal Under-21s, with six goals in 17 games for the U21s underlining the 1.84m tall attacker's qualities.
Last season, Paciência was initially loaned to Vitoria Setubal, with whom he reached the cup final, only losing to Sporting Lisbon on penalties. The 1.84 metre striker scored in both the semi-final and final. He scored five goals in the cup competition and five in the league, where he rejoined FC Porto at the end of January and won the Portuguese championship. By the end of the season, he had made twelve appearances for FCP, including two Champions League matches. (Eintracht Frankfurt Fussball AG)
