Midtjylland announced on 2 September 2026 the sale of Franculino Djú to Trabzonspor, and the Turkish club filed the financial terms of the deal with the market disclosure platform. Seventeen million euros in eight instalments, a declared salary, a share of any future sale: about this transfer we know things we know about almost no other European move of these days, and the reason is not journalistic but corporate.
The player at a glance
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Franculino Gluda Djú | public archives |
| Date and place of birth | 28 June 2004, Bissau | public archives |
| Age | 22 | calculated from the date of birth |
| Height | 1.86 metres | public archives |
| Position | Centre-forward | public archives |
| International | Guinea-Bissau, 14 caps and 1 goal to September 2025 | public archives |
| At Midtjylland | 2023-2026: 117 matches, 58 goals, 15 assists according to the club | Midtjylland statement |
| Honours | Danish league 2023-24, Danish cup 2025-26 | public archives |
| Individual awards | Superliga top scorer 2025-26 with 16 goals in 17 matches, team of the year | public archives |
| At Trabzonspor | 17 million in eight instalments over five years, contract of four years plus one, 2,125,000 euros net per season | market filing carried by the Turkish press |
The farewell statement, and the headline that says it all
Midtjylland headlined their farewell note in a way that is worth more than a statistics page: the third highest scorer in the club’s history. In the text, sporting director Kristian Bach Bak says Franculino “left a marked imprint” and adds a precise technical description: he has qualities that are very hard to find and to coach, namely his movement, his timing in the box and his ability to finish situations off.
Then comes the sentence that explains why the sale happened now rather than in June: six goals in the first four games of this season. A striker who starts like that raises his own price in three weeks, and the moment a club sells is never accidental.
Why the figures of this transfer are known
Trabzonspor is a company listed on the Istanbul stock exchange and, like every listed company, must disclose material facts to the market, player contracts included. The filing made for Franculino, carried by the Turkish press between 2 and 3 September, contains four elements:
- a transfer fee of 17 million euros to Midtjylland, payable in eight instalments spread over five years;
- additional bonuses tied to sporting results;
- a 15 per cent share for Midtjylland on a future sale of the player;
- guaranteed remuneration of 2,125,000 euros net per season, on a contract of four years plus one.
On the 15 per cent share the Turkish reconstructions are not all worded the same way, so we report it as a declared figure without reconstructing the exact mechanism: that is the difference between reporting a document and interpreting it.
Midtjylland, for their part, published no figure at all. That is the rule almost everywhere in Europe: you learn the price of a player only when the counterparty has a disclosure obligation towards the financial market.
The player’s numbers, and the two counts that do not match
The Danish club, in its statement, credits him with 117 matches, 58 goals and 15 assists. Public encyclopaedic archives, at the same date, record 118 appearances and 58 goals in all competitions, with 81 games and 40 goals in the Superliga alone.
One match of difference does not change the judgement on a striker, but we flag it anyway, because it is the kind of gap that comes from different counting criteria rather than from an error: clubs and archives do not always treat official friendlies, play-offs and qualifying rounds in the same way.
The figure that holds without any margin is last season’s: top scorer in the 2025-26 Danish Superliga with 16 goals in 17 league matches. That is not the ratio of a striker who scores when his team dominates: it is the ratio of one who decides the games he plays in.
What kind of striker he is
Public sources do not state his preferred foot, and we do not infer it. They say he is 1.86 metres tall and plays through the middle.
The rest of the profile has to be built from what the people who coached him say and from what the numbers say, and the two match: Midtjylland’s sporting director talks about movement, timing in the box and finishing, which is the category of striker who lives inside the penalty area rather than one who starts from deep. Forty goals in 81 league games, almost one every other match, are consistent with that description.
The step ahead of him is one of intensity and context: the Danish Superliga and the Turkish Süper Lig are different leagues in rhythm, external pressure and defensive quality, and Trabzonspor have signed him to be the starting centre-forward, not to develop him.
What to watch now
Three things. The first is the European calendar: whoever signs after 2 September is not on List A for the league phase, and German outlets described the deal as completed close to that deadline. The second is the instalments: seventeen million paid in eight tranches over five years is a cash decision that shows up in the club’s accounts, and it is the kind of data that in Turkey can be checked rather than imagined. The third is the simplest: how many goals he scores in his first five games. A striker bought for that fee and on that salary has one question in front of him, and the answer arrives quickly.
Sources: FC Midtjylland’s official statement of 2 September 2026 for the sale, the numbers of his spell, the third top scorer in club history line and the quotes from sporting director Kristian Bach Bak; Trabzonspor’s filing with the market disclosure platform, as carried by the Turkish press, for the fee, the instalments, the bonuses, the sell-on share, the contract length and the guaranteed salary; public and encyclopaedic archives for date and place of birth, height, citizenship, international appearances, honours and individual awards; German outlets for where the deal sat relative to the European list deadline. Midtjylland published no figure.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Franculino Djú?
Franculino Gluda Djú, a striker born on 28 June 2004 in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, standing 1.86 metres. He holds French citizenship through his father and plays for the Bissau-Guinean national team, with 14 caps and one goal according to public archives updated to September 2025.
What did he win in Denmark?
The 2023-24 Danish league and the 2025-26 national cup with Midtjylland. In 2025-26 he was the Superliga's top scorer with 16 goals in 17 league matches and was named in the team of the year.
What did he cost Trabzonspor?
Seventeen million euros, to be paid to Midtjylland in eight instalments spread over five years, plus performance-related bonuses. The Turkish club filed the terms with the market disclosure platform, as it must as a listed company, and the Turkish press carried them between 2 and 3 September.
Is the salary known too?
Yes, and that is rare: 2,125,000 euros net guaranteed per season, according to the same market filing. In almost every other European league a figure like that is not public.
Does Midtjylland get anything from a future sale?
Yes, a 15 per cent share tied to a future transfer of the player. Turkish reconstructions word it in slightly different ways, so we report it as a declared percentage without claiming to reconstruct the exact mechanism.
How many games did he play for Midtjylland?
It depends who is counting. The club, in its farewell statement, says 117 matches with 58 goals and 15 assists. Public encyclopaedic archives record 118 appearances and 58 goals in all competitions. One game apart, and we flag it rather than pick one.
