Benfica ready for Eusebio Cup against Feyenoord

Benfica are set for the Eusebio Cup against Dutch side Feyenoord at the Estadio da Luz on Sunday in what will be the club's fifth and second last preseason game as the get set to kick off the 2024-25 season next month.

This is the twelfth edition of the Eusebio Cup and surprisingly Benfica has only won the contest on four occasions since it's inception in 2008. The cup has not been played consistently every preseason and this is only the third contest in the last seven years.

Benfica are hoping to be able to hoist the coveted trophy when their Sunday contest concludes and will have one remaining preseason friendly against Fulham before the season commences.

Benfica tell Galatasaray to move on from Bah

Turkish side Galatasaray has had a €12M offer made for Benfica right back Alexander Bah rejected by the club, but the defending Super Lig champions are not going to give up so easily in their pursuit of the Danish international.

Galatasaray manager Okan Buruk envisions Bah as the perfect choice for his club's right side of the back four, but Benfica prefers to retain the 26 year old unless they receive an offer that knocks their socks off to move on from Bah during the summer.

Bah arrived at Benfica in the summer of 2022 from Slavia Prague for €8M and has appeared in 74 games across all competitions, scoring three goals while providing eleven helpers. Bah battled injuries throughout the 2023-24 season and Benfica is hoping that the worse has passed in regards to them.

 

Clubs start to pick up interest in Arthur Cabral

Benfica striker Arthur Cabral is becoming a wanted man as the 26 year old gathers interest from a variety of clubs in Europe and the Middle East. Cabral looks to be the odd man out since the arrival of striker Vangelis Pavlidis from AZ Alkmaar earlier in the transfer window, as the club has a trio of high priced strikers at their disposal, but manager Schmidt's system only calls for one to be used at a time.

Cabral arrived last summer from Fiorentina in a €20M deal in the hopes of replacing Goncalo Ramos, who departed for PSG but the Brazilian never seemed to be the right puzzle piece. Benfica have spent €56M in the past year on Cabral, Pavlidis and Marcos Leonardo but will need to move on from one of the trio and Cabral looks to be the odd man out.

Spanish club Espanyol has been in touch with Benfica in hopes of acquiring Cabral on loan for the season, along with Italian clubs Genoa and Monza. Saudi League club Neom FC has also gotten in touch with the Lisbon side in hopes of striking a deal for a move by Cabral this summer.

Cabral played 1,965 minutes for Benfica last season, appearing in 43 games across all competitions, scoring 11 goals while providing 3 helpers with only 19 of those games being starts. Benfica would prefer to sell the striker over sending him out on loan as they look to recuperate the money spent last summer to acquire Cabral.