Porto defender Diogo Dalot is not the first Dragons star to get snapped up by a European giant.
The 19-year-old emerging right-back, who completed his eagerly-anticipated switch to Old Trafford on Wednesday – signing a five-year deal reportedly worth £17.4million – is just another man to come out of the club’s impressive FC Porto Juniors youth academy.
Here, we look at three well-known stars who have gone before him and left Porto after making a name for themselves at the Estadio do Dragao.
As you will see, there has been mixed success.
Ricardo Carvalho
The legendary centre-back began his career in the youth ranks way back in 1995 and made his first-team bow two years later. Carvalho honed his craft initially away from the team he supported as a boy, spending the best part of three seasons out on loan in the second tier of Portuguese football, before really making his mark during the 2001-02 campaign.
From there, his combative defensive ability and potential as one of the leading central defenders in European football grew year on year. He became a stalwart in Jose Mourinho’s side between 2002 and 2004 – winning the Champions League at the backend of his last season at the club.
After a stellar Euro 2004 – in which he was named in the UEFA Team of the Tournament having helped his country to the final where they famously lost to Greece – Carvalho followed the Special One to Stamford Bridge as part of his and Roman Abramovich’s blue revolution in west London.
Three Premier League titles and two League Cups later, the defender left Chelsea and clung onto Mourinho’s coat tail again, joining the famed boss at Real Madrid. He won a solitary La Liga title and Copa del Rey crown in three seasons at the Bernabeu but as his powers faded and the critics came calling, he saw out his career with Monaco on the French Riviera.
But, for those that wrote him-off, Carvalho had the last laugh. He was part of the Portugal squad that lifted the Euro 2016 trophy in Paris and at the age of 38, was the oldest player in the tournament.
Iconic defender: Carvalho.
Helder Postiga
Whilst Carvalho’s career went from strength to strength, the striker’s journey was a bit more complicated.
Heralded as one of the best young forwards of his generation, Postiga was prolific during the club’s treble-winning campaign of 2002-03 under Mourinho, which included UEFA Cup success.
In hindsight, he would have wished he had stayed a season longer and secured European Cup glory, but as it was, Tottenham came calling and he signed for Glenn Hoddle’s men for £6.25 million.
He spent just one troublesome campaign at White Hart Lane, scoring only twice in 24 appearances, before moving back to his boyhood club the following summer in a part-exchange deal which saw Pedro Mendes head to north London.
Postiga, who represented Portugal in two World Cups and three European Championships, last played for Atletico Kolkata in the Indian Super League in 2016.
Although he has not yet officially tired at the age of 35, Postiga can look back on a varied and travelled career in which he also turned out for Sporting Lisbon, Real Zaragoza, Valencia and Deportivo La Coruna.
Postiga is challenged by Steven Gerrard in the Premier League.
Vitor Baia
Easily one of the most decorated goalkeepers of his time, the shot-stopper is a Porto legend.
Baia rose up through the youth ranks to make his first-team debut in 1988. 246 appearances later, Barcelona came calling for his signature and he switched to Camp Nou for two seasons between 1996 and 1998.
After a decent debut 12 months in Catalonia, Louis van Gaal axed him for the 1997-98 campaign in which the Blaugrana ended up winning the league. After failing to displace Dutchman Ruud Hesp, Baia was forced out but did experience a fairytale return to the coastal city he called home in the summer of 1998.
He clearly learned his lesson that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and never left Porto again until his retirement at the end of the 2006-07 season.
A winner of 80 caps for his country, Baia made over 500 appearances for Porto and won 27 trophies in total, including 10 Primeira Liga crowns and the Champions League title – which was without doubt the crowning glory on a significant career in the history of Portuguese football.
Legend between the sticks: Vitor Baia.
