Victor Froholdt’s rise at Porto has been one of the stories of the Portuguese season, but any Premier League club hoping to move early for the 19-year-old, including Arsenal, has already hit a dead end.
Froholdt cannot leave in January because he has already played for two clubs this season, first for Copenhagen and now Porto, and UEFA rules prevent him representing a third before the summer.
The Danish midfielder has made an immediate impact since joining Porto in the summer for around €20m plus bonuses, a joint-record sale for Copenhagen.
He has been central to Porto’s early push in the Primeira Liga and Europa League, collecting Player of the Month, Young Player of the Month and Midfielder of the Month awards in his first weeks at the club.
That form has drawn attention from across Europe and, in particular, from the Premier League.
Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United and Brighton have all been tracking him, with Bournemouth, Atletico Madrid and a number of Serie A sides also watching closely.
As Gianluca Di Marzio put it to Danish outlet Tipsbladet: “Of course FC Porto don’t want to sell Victor Froholdt, but Roma have their eyes on him. The same goes for Napoli and Atalanta. They are watching him, but that does not mean that they will sign him.”
His rise has been swift. Born in Copenhagen in 2006, Froholdt came through Vallensbæk IF before joining Copenhagen’s academy at 12. He made his senior debut in 2023 and became a regular the following season, helping the club win both the league and cup.
He then moved to Porto this summer and adapted instantly.
Froholdt has also already broken into the Denmark national team, making his debut in March 2025 and scoring his first goal in a World Cup qualifier against Belarus in October.
He is a powerful, box-to-box midfielder with strong ball-carrying, reliable defensive work and genuine composure under pressure. His creativity and aerial game are still developing, but his trajectory has been steep enough to convince scouts across Europe he is a player to keep watching.
For now, though, none of them can act. Froholdt’s situation is set until the summer, when the race for him is expected to become far more serious.