Gonçalo Inácio, at 25, is going through the most turbulent period of his rise at Alvalade. Holder of the captain's armband and accustomed to undisputed status since he established himself in the starting XI, the Portuguese international centre-back sees his valuation and stability put to the test. In an atypical season plagued by unusual slip-ups, the status that seemed untouchable at Alvalade is beginning, for the first time, to spark… debate.

The loss of spark on the pitch was directly reflected off it. Three years ago, in 2023, the centre-back reached the peak of his valuation on the specialist website Transfermarkt, valued at 45 million euros. Today, the left-footed centre-back's valuation stands at 35 million — a sharp drop of 10 million euros that illustrates the less sparkling moment in the career of a player accustomed to this, who had a meteoric rise.

If at Sporting his starting place is beginning to suffer the jolts of occasional but compromising mistakes, with the national team the loss of space has become even more evident. The centre-back lost his place in the pecking order to Renato Veiga, with his expectations of becoming a leading figure in the Quinas team dashed. A trend that began to take shape in the final phase of the last World Cup, which Inácio arrived at with legitimate ambitions of a starting place, but ended up leaving without adding any minutes of play.

The arrival of Jorge Jesus as head coach of the national team renewed the hope of the Sporting centre-back, who earned a call-up again. However, the scenario repeated itself: over the first four games of the new national team coach's era, Gonçalo Inácio once again did not add any minutes.

Jorge Jesus has already publicly guaranteed that Sporting's captain 'would play well for the national team', but the defender will now have to wait for the November international window to try to translate those words into… playing time. Until then, the challenge is to rediscover his best version at Sporting and stem the devaluation of one of the most talented centre-backs of his generation.