European preview: Portugal

Mantorras: the biggest African summer signing in Portugal

BBC Sport Online's Filippo Maria Ricci continues a regular series previewing the new season for African players in Europe's major leagues by focusing on Portugal's first division

The Portuguese championship is now underway and Africans have already played a big part in the opening fixtures.

There are 44 Africans in the Portugese League and two of them made high profile starts in the opening 2-2 draw between newcomers Varzim and former champions Benfica.

Varzim's new signing, Mozambique's Goçalves Fumo, who arrived in the summer from Sporting Lisbon, scored their first goal in the first division.

Ayew has returned to Sporting

But Benfica's Angolan defender Cabral, later played villian as he gifted Varzim their equaliser with an own-goal.

Cabral has only just moved from Belenenses.

The Lisbon giants, Benfica, despite big financial problems, made the highest profile signing in the off season, picking up the teenage Angolan sensation, Pedro Mantorras from Alverca for £3.5m.

The signing was undoubtedly the biggest transfer not only for African players but for the entire Portuguese market.

As usual the Portuguese league is packed with players coming from the former colonies of Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau.

Porto are the only club without any Africans in the roster. Gil Vicente is the most represented team with eight.

Camacho moves to Boavista

During the summer Ghanaian striker Kwame Ayew returned to Sporting Lisbon, the team he helped to win the title two years ago, after a loan spell in Turkey at Yozgatspor.

Another striker, Moroccan Abdeljalil Hadda "Camacho" has also arrived, signing for champions Boavista from Sporting Gijon in Spain.

At Boavista he will play alongside Cameroonian keeper William Andem, Senegalese Khadim Faye and Angolan Pedro Emanuel.

The Mozambique forward Qunizinho has managed to remain in the top flight moving from relegated Desportivo Aves, for whom he scored five goals last season, to Alverca.

His national team striking partner Chiquinho Conde has moved in the opposite direction, leaving Alverca to join second division Portimonense for his fifteenth season in Europe.

Desportivo Aves have also lost the services of Cameroonian Douala Mbella and Cape Verdian Nilton, both have moved to Gil Vicente.

Vicente, too, have picked up Nigerian Henry "Maki" Makinwa from newly promoted Vitoria Setubal.

Nader is the top African goalscorer in Portugal

Ivorian striker Ahmed Ouattara has gone back to Extremadura in Spain after a loan spell at Salgueiros, and Guinea Bissau striker Almani Moreira has left Boavista for Standard Liege in Belgium.

The top African goal scorer in the 2000-2001 Portuguese season, Moroccan Hassan Nader, has started his tenth season in the country, the eighth with Farense.

Last year he scored 17 goals, finishing third in the European Black Shoe classification. His European tally is now 89 goals, the third best ever alongside DRC Andre Kona Ngole and behind George Weah and Anthony Yeboah.