Benfica watching Wolves manager Vitor Pereira

Benfica are set to kick off their Club World Cup tomorrow against Boca Juniors but an interesting report has emerged in regards to the club's managerial situation, with many news outlets reporting that the club has their eye on Wolverhampton's current Portuguese manager Vitor Pereira.

The club has denied that they have any intentions of replacing current manager Bruno Lage and stated that these reports are just out to cause destabilization towards the club.

Pereira became Wolves manager in December 2024 and helped turn around the club's season, keeping them up in the Premier League after taking over the role.

The 56 year old is already a fan favourite in England and has spent stints managing Al-Shabab, Flamengo, Corinthians, Fenerbahce Shanghai SIPG, 1860 Munich and Olympiacos over the past ten seasons. His last managerial role in Portugal was with FC Porto in 2013 but he also managed Santa Clara before this. 

Look for the noise to only get louder about a Pereira move to Benfica if Bruno Lage does not get off to a good start with the club in the upcoming season. Pereira did capture the Portuguese League title on two occasions while at FC Porto. 

Benfica announce squad for Club World Cup

Benfica have released their squad for this summers Club World Cup which is set to kick off Saturday in Miami. 

Benfica's first game of the tournament will be June 16 against Boca Juniors, followed by Auckland City on June 20 and their group stage wraps up June 24 against Bayern Munich.

Benfica Club World Cup Squad:

Keepers- Anatoliy Trubin, Andre Gomes, Diogo Ferreira

Defenders- Nico Otamendi, Antonio Silva, Alvaro Fernandez, Samuel Dahl, Leandro Santos, Joshua Wynder, Goncalo Oliveira, Adrian Bajrami

Midfielders- Orkun Kokcu, Florentino, Fredrik Aursnes, Leandro Barreiro, Renato Sanches, Rafael Luis, Joao Veloso, Diogo Prioste

Forwards- Vangelis Pavlidis, Angel di Maria, Andrea Belotti, Kerem Akturkoglu, Gianluca Prestianni, Andreas Schjelderup, Tiago Gouveia, Bruma, Joao Rego 

Botafogo land Benfica striker Arthur Cabral

Benfica have come to an agreement to sell striker Arthur Cabral to Botafogo for €12M with an additional €3M in potential incentives and will retain 10% on a future sale of the player. Botafogo have signed Cabral for the next three seasons and will have his services for the Club World Cup which is set to commence in the next couple of weeks.

Benfica acquired the 27 year old striker from Fiorentina in the summer of 2024 for €20.5M to replace outgoing starting striker Goncalo Ramos who was sold that same summer to PSG. Cabral could never become the striker the club was hoping for and had fallen down the pecking order of the club with the arrivals of Vangelis Pavlidis and Andrea Belotti.

Cabral appeared in 77 games for Benfica across all competitions scoring 18 goals while providing 5 helpers in 2,865 minutes of action with the majority of his game action coming at his first season with the club. Cabral did score two goals for the club in the Champions League over the past two seasons, both victories.

Cabral returns to his native Brazil where he last played in 2019 when he suited up with Palmeiras. Cabral came up through Brazilian clubs Ceara and Campinense and captured his only club trophy at the senior level this season when Benfica won the 2024-25 Taca da Liga earlier in the year.