A Bola reports on the options available to Rafael Nel for his future with Sporting. Nel has the opportunity to either stay and compete for a place at Sporting or be loaned for one year to a competitive team to gain experience, with a guaranteed return. Sporting will not block a loan, but only to a high-level competitive scenario and under close monitoring. Rafael Nel will always participate in preseason with Sporting.

There is a possibility that 21-year-old Portuguese centre-forward Rafael Nel may be loaned out from Sporting CP so that he can gain more competitive playing time. The decision depends on factors such as the condition of Ioannidis, who ended the season injured. Nel's contract with the club runs until June 2029, and his current Transfermarkt market value is €4.00m. In the 2025/2026 season, he scored 2 goals in 7 Liga Portugal appearances and added 7 goals in 23 games in Liga Portugal 2. The forward has also been capped 7 times for Portugal's U20 team, scoring one goal.