For Sporting coach Ruben Amorim, the still young 2022/23 season is already divided into two parts.

Everything was fine before August 18, but after that chaos erupted.

On that day, Portugal international Matheus Nunes signed a five-year contract with Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers.

45 million euros plus possible bonus payments are now coming into the empty coffers of the traditional Portuguese club.

Before the transfer, Amorim had stressed at almost every press conference how happy he was that Matheus Nunes would stay for another season.

The 22-year-old played a central role in Amorim's tactical system: In the 3-4-3 formation, Sporting is particularly dependent on the two players in central midfield.

With his physical strength, ball security and his surprising solo efforts to the top, Nunes created the necessary imbalances in a game system that was sometimes too rigid.

He played such a significant role in the fact that his coach has been very successful in the past two seasons: the Lisbon club has won a championship, a Super Cup and two League Cups, which is now behind Benfica Lisbon and FC Porto in the hierarchy of the major Portuguese football clubs bit fell off.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Sporting was still the dominant club in Portugal.

But since the early 1980s, the club has only been able to win the championship three times.

High level of debt

"Sporting relies on the sale of its best players to avoid financial bankruptcy," says sports finance expert António Samagaio of the Lisbon School of Economics & Management ISEG.

UEFA's new financial rules have been in effect since June: according to this, football clubs in Europe may only post losses of a maximum of 20 million euros or, under special circumstances, 30 million euros per year.

In the 2020/21 season, Sporting became champions, but also made a minus of 33 million euros due to the lack of viewer income in the pandemic.

"The income from marketing, tickets, TV rights and participation in the European competitions is not enough," says Samagaio.

“With a debt of almost 318 million euros, Sporting has no room for manoeuvre.

Player transfers are a solid pillar in the club's business model, without which participation in European competitions could be in question due to the financial difficulties."

The tense situation should also be known to Ruben Amorim.

It is all the more surprising that Sporting's coaching staff and management did not prepare in time for Matheus Nunes' departure.

Right at the start of training in early July, midfield director Daniel Bragança, who was seen as the natural successor to Nunes' position, was injured and will be absent from the Lisbon club for months.