Ivan Fresneda’s Remarkable Revival at Sporting Lisbon

Ivan Fresneda’s unlikely revival in Lisbon has put him back on the radar of Europe’s elite – and dragged Arsenal into a transfer story that looked dead and buried 18 months ago.

Back then, the right-back was an afterthought at Sporting. Now, under Rui Borges, he is being talked about as indispensable.

From the fringes to first name on the teamsheet

Fresneda arrived in Portugal with pedigree and expectation. A £10 million signing from Real Valladolid, a former Real Madrid youth product, and a Spain youth international – the profile was there. The opportunity was not.

Under Ruben Amorim, the now AC Milan head coach, the 21-year-old barely featured. Across a season and a half, interrupted by shoulder surgery that sidelined him for two months, he made just 16 appearances. In a Sporting side built around aggressive, attacking wing-backs, his profile never truly fit.

Amorim wanted constant thrust down the flanks. Fresneda offered something different.

Borges has seen that “different” as a strength, not a flaw.

Since taking over, the new Sporting coach has turned the Spaniard into a mainstay. Fresneda has already racked up 63 appearances under him, a staggering contrast that underlines just how radically his status has changed inside the club.

The resurgence has stretched beyond domestic duty. After two years in the international wilderness, he returned to the Spain under-21 setup last season, earning four caps and reasserting himself as one of his country’s more intriguing defensive prospects.

Arsenal watching a defender, not a winger in disguise

The numbers that usually excite modern full-back scouts are not Fresneda’s selling point. Across his club career, he has registered only four goals and four assists. That is not what has drawn Arsenal – or, intriguingly, Real Madrid – back to the table.

What has caught the eye is his defensive craft.

Reports in Portugal, notably from A Bola, paint a picture of a defender who reads the game with clarity, positions himself intelligently, and relishes the physical side of his work. Combative, committed, and disciplined rather than flamboyant. A full-back first, not a winger in disguise.

Under Borges, those qualities have been brought to the fore. The Portuguese outlet suggests the coach has “unlocked” something that Amorim either missed or simply did not value within his system. Where one manager saw a misfit for his wing-back template, another has found a cornerstone for a more balanced back line.

Sporting’s internal stance has flipped accordingly. During Amorim’s tenure, the club were open to letting Fresneda go and even entered talks over a move to Como. He was, in their words, “doomed to oblivion”.

That deal never happened. Instead, the player stayed, the coach left, and the script flipped.

Now, the same club that once viewed him as expendable sees him as central to their long-term plans.

A cinematic turnaround – and a new twist in Italy

The irony of the story sits in Italy.

Fresneda did not get his move to Serie A. Amorim did.

Milan have turned to the Portuguese coach after missing out on Champions League football, presenting him as the architect of a “modern, dominant tactical approach” in their official announcement. The club hailed his clarity over player profiles, his organisational structure, and his reputation for developing young talent and maximising their potential.

Gerry Cardinale, managing partner of majority owners RedBird Capital Partners, went further, explaining why Milan had been tracking Amorim for years. He praised the former Sporting boss as “one of the most prepared and innovative coaches of the new European generation” and highlighted his commitment to high-press, possession-based, attacking football, quick transitions, and a clear tactical identity.

It is that same tactical conviction that left Fresneda on the outside looking in at Sporting.

While Amorim now attempts to impose his philosophy at San Siro, the full-back he rarely trusted has rebuilt his career under a different vision in Lisbon – and forced his way into the thinking of clubs with very different needs.

Arsenal, searching for defensive reliability and tactical intelligence across their back line, are among those monitoring his progress. Real Madrid, aware of the talent they once had in their academy, are watching too.

A year ago, Sporting were ready to sell him to Como. Now, they are fighting to keep him.

For a player once “doomed to oblivion”, the next move will say everything about how far he has come – and how much higher he can still climb.