Why Stephen Eustáquio’s move to Swansea City is good news for the CanMNT midfield
The ongoing Canadian invasion of the EFL Championship has continued this week, and CanMNT vice-captain Stephen Eustáquio is the latest Canadian player to join the league after signing a 2-year deal with Swansea City on Thursday, officially completing a transfer from FC Porto.
✍️ We are delighted to announce the signing of midfielder Stephen Eustáquio from Porto for an undisclosed fee, subject to the relevant clearance.
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) August 27, 2026
👉 https://t.co/4S4aaYxO7X pic.twitter.com/KHDe5KESk9
Just a day after Jayden Nelson made a surprising move to join the Bolton Wanderers, joining the likes of Ali Ahmed, Cyle Larin and Alfie Jones in the circuit, Eustáquio threw his name into the ring, adding yet another CanMNT interest story for those who pay close attention to the league to follow.
This is a big move for both Eustáquio and Swansea, too, as Eustáquio leaves Portuguese giants Porto after spending parts of five seasons with the club, making 157 appearances and winning nine trophies, with over a dozen of those appearances coming in the UEFA Champions League, as well as in the Europa League.
Safe to say that’s the exact sort of winning pedigree that Swansea will feel can boost their promotion ambitions, as they look to return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017-2018.
Heading into their ninth straight season in the Championship since they were relegated from the Premier League at the end of that 17-18 campaign (after a run of seven consecutive seasons in England’s top flight before that), they’re hoping this can be the year they push higher up the table, having finished between 11th and 15th in their last five seasons after a pair of consecutive playoff appearances in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021.
Certainly, the arrival of someone like Eustáquio should only help boost those ambitions, especially considering that Eustáquio is just the latest arrival in what has already been a busy window for Swansea, who have splashed upwards of 20 million euros to bolster their squad with other players such as Joseph Opoku, Moussa Yeo, Elijah Just and Leo Walta - and that’s on top of key free agent signings such as Ross Stewart and Stephen Walsh.
Now, though, it’ll be fascinating to see where Eustáquio can fit in on this side, and how quickly he can hit the ground running in Wales.
In particular, to look more closely at what Eustáquio can bring to his new side, it’s worth noting that he comes to Swansea at an interesting time in his career. Last season, he lost his spot at Porto, which is why he spent the second half of the campaign on loan with MLS side LAFC, who he joined to earn minutes ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
Another LAFC screamer 🚨
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 1, 2026
Stephen Eustáquio's first makes it 2-0! pic.twitter.com/XmH880Riyv
In the first half of the 2025-2026 season with Porto, Eustáquio didn’t even crack 600 minutes of action across 16 appearances, as he earned 581 minutes before he headed out on his LA loan. By comparison, he earned 2929 minutes for Porto in 2024-2025, 2250 minutes in 2023-2024 and 2715 minutes in 2022-2023, showing why it was so surprising to see his minutes dip the way they did in his last season with the club.
Granted, there are some reasonable explanations for that - namely, the fact that Porto significantly bolstered their midfield ahead of last season - but it still was a shock that someone with Eustáquio’s experience was cast aside the way he was on a young team.
In the end, though, the ends justified the means for Porto, who won the 2025-2026 Portuguese league title, which was their first since 2021-2022. Had that not been the case, perhaps Eustáquio might’ve remained at the club to earn another shot at more minutes in 2026-2027.
Now, though, he heads to Swansea, a team that should fit him quite well. Coached by Portuguese manager Vítor Matos, who took the helm of Swansea partway through last season, he employs a high-possession system that should get the most out of Eustáquio’s strengths.
With Eustáquio able to pull the strings in possession, he’ll fit in perfectly into Matos’s midfield - the only question now for Matos to answer is figuring out where exactly in that midfield Eustáquio will slot in.
Over the last few years, we’ve seen different iterations of Eustáquio, who is an incredibly tactically flexible player. Remember the box-to-box version of him that scored seven goals and added six assists in the 2022-2023 season?
Make that 3⃣ for Porto who are taking a big step towards qualification 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/IPWWsxGkvr
— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) October 26, 2022
Along with that box-to-box role, we’ve also seen Eustáquio play as more of a true #6, as a deep-lying playmaker, and even as a centre-back, showing his ability to play different roles.
That’s worth noting, because at Swansea, Matos has either played with a 4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3, which offers a bunch of different possibilities for Eustáquio. In a 4-1-4-1, he can play as both the #6 and as one of the #8s, while in a 4-2-3-1, he slots seamlessly into the double pivot without a worry - and in a 4-3-3, he can play anywhere in midfield.
In the end, that decision of his best position will come down to a few different factors, such as player availability and the fit of other players in that system, among others.
To that point, though, is there a particular role that Eustáquio might be better suited for at this stage of his career?
It’s hard to say, but using the data from Eustáquio’s time in MLS might help offer a bit of an idea of where he might fit in at Swansea. Given that LAFC used Eustáquio in both a three-man midfield and a double pivot, that should offer some similarities to what he faces at Swansea - even if LAFC’s system is more of a counter-attacking one.
When looking at that data, a few things stand out.
Firstly, on the ball, Eustáquio was a bit more of a tempo-setter than a box-to-box player. He had great passing stats, averaging 67.34 passes per 90 (at an 89.5% clip), including 4.88 long balls (at a 53.3% clip) and 8.57 passes into the final third (at a 74.7% clip). To add to that, he also attempted 20.28 of his passes forward, compared to 10.41 of them backwards - while he was comfortable playing it safe in possession if needed, he tried to be relatively progressive with his passing.
By comparison, Eustáquio attempted 0.21 dribbles, made just 0.98 progressive runs and had just 1.08 touches in the box, showing why he averaged just 0.76 shots, 0.43 key passes, 0.02 xG and 0.02 xA, as he wasn’t as dangerous in the final third as one would’ve expected.
He still had moments of quality in the final third, scoring a goal and adding an assist, but for the most part, his best work with LAFC was done deeper on the pitch, as seen with his passing numbers. 
Here's Eustáquio's heatmap from his time with LAFC, showing that he spent a lot of his time on the ball in deeper areas (WyScout)
Meanwhile, defensively, as one would expect of him, Eustáquio was very steady - he had 4.99 interceptions, 8.78 recoveries and 6.83 defensive duels (winning 54% of them), which is worth noting, even if unsurprising to see from him. He’s known for being an extremely relentless defender for a reason, after all.
What that all shows, though, is that Swansea might be more tempted to use Eustáquio in more of a deeper position, whether that’s in the double-pivot or as a lone #6. 
Here's Eustáquio's percentile chart from his time with LAFC, showing that he did a good job of breaking up play and progressing the ball, as one would expect from a #6 (WyScout)
For example, with Swansea using Jay Fulton and Marko Stamenić as #6s so far this season, could Eustáquio be tasked to pair with one of them in a double pivot? And don’t forget Portuguese midfielder Gonçalo Franco, who racked up over 3000 minutes for Swansea last year, as another option who could pair nicely with Eustáquio in a hypothetical double pivot.
Either way, Eustáquio shouldn’t have much of a problem slotting into this team - even if he faces good competition at his position, his experience will be a big asset for him and his new team, and it does help that the Championship’s gruelling schedule typically ensures that there are plenty of minutes to go around for everyone, anyways.
Yet, that shows why this move makes sense for him. At first glance, it’s a surprise that he’s making the move to join such a gruelling league at 29, but the competition in Swansea’s squad shows that Eustáquio should be able to slot in and not be overworked.
And, more importantly, this move is a sign that Eustáquio feels that he still has a lot to give as a player. Based on how he performed in MLS, he would’ve been welcomed by many clubs in that league as a star, but he wanted to stick in Europe, and by joining one of the top leagues (despite being a second division circuit, the Championship is rated as a top 10 league by most metrics, and some rate it closer to top five), Eustáquio is making it clear that he wants to push himself at a high level, and not just at any club or in any league.
That’s great news for the CanMNT, as this shows that Eustáquio is also intent on keeping himself at a top level heading into the next World Cup cycle, where he still has plenty to achieve with this Canadian team. Given that he’s only going to be 33 at the next World Cup, there’s no reason why he can’t still play a key role in the ongoing growth of this Canadian team over the next four years, helping them push for trophies in the short-term, while guiding them back to the World Cup (and then playing a key role in that tournament again) in the long-term.
CANADA HAS SCORED IN ADDED TIME! 🇨🇦
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 28, 2026
Stephen Eustáquio finds the back of the net to send Canada into jubilation!#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/F0Bt0xfCAC
As seen here, though, he’ll just likely do that in more of a #6 role, instead of as a true box-to-box #8 - although that’s no problem from a Canadian perspective, as that profile fits nicely into Jesse Marsch’s 4-2-2-2, one that always seems to look at its best when Eustáquio is in the heart of the Canadian team.
Now, he’ll hope to bring similar value with Swansea, with this move hopefully helping Eustáquio’s Canadian ambitions - especially if Swansea can live up to their lofty expectations as a team that wants to push for Premier League promotion this year.
