Italian club Torino is being linked with Benfica midfielder Chiquinho according to reports coming from Sportitalia. Chiquinho belongs to the sports agency Gestifute which is run by super agent Jorge Mendes and only joined Benfica last summer but with the club now run by new manager Jorge Jesus and looking to add funds after losing a place in the Champions League group stage a number of players are available for the right price. The 25 year old has a contract with the club until the summer of 2024 and appeared in 38 games across all competitions scoring three goals while adding seven helpers. Benfica spent €4.4M to acquire Chiquinho from Moreirense and would want close to three times that to make a move.
After the sale today of Ruben Dias to Manchester City for €68M plus incentives of an additional €3.6M, the Lisbon side will look to cash in on a few more players from the squad before the summer transfer window closes on October 5. Benfica is looking to balance their books after losing the windfall of making the Champions League group stage when they had already spent €80M+ on arrivals to the club due to the return of former club manager Jorge Jesus.
Benfica will now continue to shop players that Jesus feels is not needed at the club this season, these players include last seasons top scoring striker Carlos Vinicius, midfielder Franco Cervi and a couple of players that spent the season on loan in Facundo Ferreyra, Christian Lema and Alfa Semedo. Benfica are looking to land €45M plus for the services of Vinicius with Tottenham, Leicester City and Crystal Palace all interested in the player but not at that price.
Benfica are set to sell Ruben Dias this week to Manchester City, Dias is also the lone Seixal academy product in the starting eleven of the club and his departure could be the end of Seixal made players getting regular minutes under current manager Jorge Jesus. The veteran manager is known to lean heavily towards veteran players when at the helm and has made it clear what players he will be leaning on during the 2020/21 campaign. These players do not include academy players Florentino Luis (joined Monaco on loan), Ivan Zlobin (sold to Famalicao), Tomas Tavares (to join Alaves on loan), Jota and Ferro who find themselves looking at other clubs to find regular minutes.
Moroccan midfielder Abel Taarabt will not play this weekend against Moreirense due to a groin injury suffered during last weeks opener against Famalicao which kept him out of training all week. Jorge Jesus is looking at Pizzi or Chiquinho as replacements for Taarabt in the midfield role. The Benfica manager states he is calm and confident with either player in that position with both players training during the week to fill the void.
Benfica and defensive midfielder Ljubomir Fejsa are currently in talks to end their seven year relationship with the termination of the players contract set to be settled between both parties over the next few days. The 32 year old Serbian is in the final year of his contract and with no place in Benfica's current lineup, Fejsa will be free to continue his career elsewhere with reports that he will move to a club in the Middle East. Fejsa joined Benfica in the summer of 2013 from Olympiakos and has appeared in 169 games across all competitions for the Lisbon side scoring twice. Fejsa was a key member of the clubs return to the top of Portugal winning five league titles and thirteen trophies in total as a member of Benfica.
Benfica have made a move with one of their youngsters as they look to get some of their Seixal academy players regular playing time this season, sending midfielder David Tavares to Moreirense until seasons end. The 21 year old Tavares appeared in 13 games across all competitions and 1002 minutes between Benfica and Benfica B last season but went without registering a goal or an assist during his playing time. Benfica will now turn their attention to a pair of other Seixal products as they look to find loan deals for Jota and Tomas Tavares before the transfer window closes.
Jorge Jesus has always enjoyed experimenting with players on his squad at different positions and this continues this season with the veteran manager currently tinkering with 23 year old winger Diogo Goncalves at the right back position. Goncalves could follow the footsteps of former club players Miguel and Fabio Coentrao who built long and exciting careers after switching to the full back position. Goncalves spent last season on loan at Famalicao where he appeared in 34 games for the club scoring seven goals while setting up ten but what caught the attention of the club brass was the versatility that Goncalves showed while at Famalicao.
Goncalves played 24 of his 34 appearances at the right wing position but was also used in the right midfield, the left wing, the left midfield and once at right back. Jorge Jesus has decided to move forward with this experiment adding pressure to long time starter Andre Almeida and newly signed Gilberto for playing time and was quoted in by the Portuguese media that Diogo Goncalves could be a great right back in the future.
Benfica kicked off their league campaign with a dominant 5-1 victory over last seasons darlings Famalicao as they look to start rolling after this weeks disappointing loss in Champions League qualifying. Jorge Jesus made four changes to Tuesdays starting eleven inserting Luca Waldschmidt, Darwin Nunez, Rafa Silva and Gabriel while sitting Haris Seferovic, Pizzi, Julian Weigl and Pedrinho and the change paid dividend quickly when Benfica's new strike tandem combined to open the scoring with Waldschmidt chipping in a beauty to open the clubs scoring campaign.
New signing Everton Cebolinha doubled the Eagles lead before Alex Grimaldo picked the top corner on a set piece to give the club a 3-0 half time lead. Rafa Silva and Luca Waldschmidt would extend the lead to five with second half goals before Famalicao would get on the scoresheet breaking Vlachodimos' clean sheet. Benfica will play their home opener in Week 2 against Moreirense next Saturday at 6:30pm WEST as they look to keep their form going.
Portuguese International Ruben Semedo is still pushing for a move back to Portugal to join Benfica even though the club will not participate in Champions League play this season. The 26 year old central defender has been linked with the Lisbon side for weeks but with Benfica now in sell mode, any future acquisitions look set to be put on hold until the club sorts out some of its finances with FIFA fair play rules potentially a concern for next season.
Benfica has already spent €78M on acquisitions and will need to potentially sell a couple of prized assets to get to their dollars spent. Benfica could be looking to move striker Carlos Vinicius and midfielders Franco Cervi and Florentino with the hopes of bringing in close to €80M from the sale of all three players as they look to hold onto prized asset Ruben Dias a bit longer. Jorge Jesus is leading the charge to land Semedo but the club manager and player will need to hold on just a little longer.
Jorge Jesus's return to Benfica has started off with a thump and a kick to the rear, as Benfica get eliminated in a one game leg due to COVID-19 against Greek side PAOK and will not take part in the Champions League group stage for the first time since the 2009/10 campaign. After controlling all of the first half but coming up empty handed Benfica allowed an own goal off of newly signed center back Jan Vertonghen in the second half and then were haunted by recently released Zivkovic for the second goal in what turned into a 2-1 defeat and saved some face with a Rafa Silva header in the 94th minute from being shutout completely in Jesus' first meaningful game since his return.
The loss is devastating to a club that has spent over €80M bringing in reinforcements to the club in their bid to regain the Portuguese Championship but also make some noise in Europe's biggest club competition. The loss will also have a ripple effect within the squad as the club looks to recoup the funds lost from missing out on the Champions League group stage. This loss to PAOK has also shown that Benfica lack a true number eight in the middle of the field a problem that the club will need to address if they are to have success at home and in the Europa League this season.
Benfica are already lining up a back up plan if Olympiakos continue to play hard ball for the acquisition of Portuguese international center back Ruben Semedo with reports coming in that the club will turn once again to the Brazilian league. Benfica are keen on Santos' 25 year old center back Lucas Verissimo who Jorge Jesus is familiar with from his time managing Flamengo. This is not the first time the club has been linked to the Santos player who is a regular stalwart in Santos' back four having appeared in 115 games for the club across all competitions, scoring six goals while adding a helper. Semedo is the preferred choice of the club but with the season set to get underway this upcoming weekend the club wants a center back in place sooner then later and will not hesitate turning to the Santos defender.
Benfica have announced their player list for their upcoming Champions League qualifying clash against Greek club PAOK on Tuesday September 15. Benfica have named 33 players to their squad list for selection of their 18 game day players below:
Keepers: Vlachodimos, Helton Leite, Mile Svilar, Samuel Soares
Defenders: Ruben Dias, Jan Vertonghen, Alex Grimaldo, Andre Almeida, Gabriel, Nuno Tavares, Joao Ferreira, Ferro, Jardel
Midfielders: Pizzi, Julian Weigl, Taarabt, Gabriel, Chiquinho, Samaris, David Tavares, Florentino, Goncalo Ramos, Franco Cervi
Forwards: Carlos Vinicius, Seferovic, Rafa Silva, Cebolinha, Darwin Nunez, Pedrinho, Jota , Diogo Goncalves, Waldschimdt
Turkish news is reporting that league side Fenerbahce has interest in landing Benfica's Swiss striker Haris Seferovic as a replacement for the potential departure of the clubs current striker Vedat Muriqi.
The 28 year old Seferovic is at the top of Fenerbahce's wish list and club officials have already made an official offer to Benfica for the strikers services but no figures for such a move have been reported.
Seferovic is signed with Benfica until the summer of 2024 and has a €60M buy out clause attached to his contract. The Swiss International joined Benfica in the summer of 2017 on a free transfer and has appeared in 125 games for the club across all competitions, scoring 43 goals and setting up an additional 16. Seferovic was the golden boot winner during the 2018-19 season were he lead the league with 23 goals scored.
With the arrival of seven reinforcements for the coming season and potentially a few more to come, Benfica have now hit departure mode for a set of players as they prepare for their Champions League qualifier against PAOK and the start of the league season. Benfica central defender Ferro is one of the names being linked with a move away from the club, the Seixal made player has value in the market and would add millions to the clubs coffer in a buy now deal or a loan deal with a purchase option.
The rumoured arrival of center back Ruben Semedo to the club only reinforces the players departure before the start of the season. Ferro's name joins a long list of players rumoured to be on the way out from last seasons club. That list includes Carlos Vinicius, Jota, Chiquinho, Tomas Tavares and Taarabt. Benfica are hoping to cash in on some if not all of the players as they look to recuperate the more then €80M already spent on player buys.
Benfica midfielder Adel Taarabt has turned into a hot commodity across Europe attracting the interest of various clubs across the continent. Taarabt has been linked with Italian sides Sampdoria and Fiorentina along with Russian club Zenit and Greek side Olympiakos for a switch this upcoming season. Taarabt who is signed with Benfica until the summer of 2022, has been used regularly by Jorge Jesus during this preseason and any move for the 31 year old Moroccan would only occur if Benfica were to acquire another midfielder during the transfer window.
Taarabt joined Benfica in the summer of 2015 but only started making regular appearances with the club towards the end of the 2018/19 season after Bruno Lage took over the club as its manager. Taarabt since then has appeared in 45 games for Benfica across all competitions, scoring once while adding three helpers. Benfica would be looking to add between €10M-€15M to depart with Taarabt services from any interested party.
Benfica and Olympiakos are work on hammering out an agreement that would see the return of Ruben Semedo to Portugal, this time playing for his former clubs arch rivals in Lisbon. Benfica are pressing to acquire the defender for the least amount possible due to the fact that Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest are owned by the same person and the club is awaiting the final installment from their sale of Joao Carvalho to Nottingham Forest a couple of years back and are entitled to 50% of the proceeds of any Olympiakos agreement with Guimaraes for midfielder Pepe Rodrigues who's agent is currently in Greece.
Benfica could end up paying almost nothing to acquire Semedo due to the amounts owed to the club as Jorge Jesus presses to have the deal finalized quickly. The newest questions that could arise with the acquisition of Semedo is if Ruben Dias will depart the club but Jesus is known for his love of central defenders and this may not be the case. The 26 year old Semedo joined Olympiakos in the summer 2019 from Villarreal for €4.5M and appeared in 44 games across all competitions for the Greek champions scoring five goals, it is said Olympiakos are looking for €10M to depart with Semedo.
Benfica continue to look at strengthening their current squad and have turned their attention to Jorge Jesus' former club Flamengo presenting an offer of €30M for the duo of Bruno Henrique and Gerson. Flamengo have not made any formal reply to the offer but behind closed doors it is said that they feel that the initial offer is low for the pair. Gerson was one of the main pillars behind Flamengo's historic run with Jesus and the Benfica manager feels that the 23 year old midfielder could shine with the Lisbon side.
Striker Bruno Henrique also had a fantastic season for Flamengo with Jesus at the helm and the Benfica manager is never short of praise for the 29 year old who was named both the Libertadores and Brazilian Serie A player of the year. The landing of the Flamengo duo would be a major scoop for both club and players, pushing the strength of the club to a higher level as they look for a return to winning not only at home but in Europe.
Benfica will announce their record breaking signing tomorrow in Lisbon when they unveil striker Darwin Nunez at a press conference in the afternoon. The 21 year old Uruguayan is joining the club from Almeria after the two clubs finally agreed to a reported €25M exchange setting a new all time high purchase for Benfica, surpassing their move for Raul Jimenez from Atletico Madrid in 2015 for €22M.
Benfica manager Jorge Jesus led the charge for the players acquisition which saw the clubs pursuit end when Rui Costa flew to Spain to seal the deal earlier this week. Nunez scored an impressive 16 goals in 30 La Liga2 appearances, finishing fourth in league scoring leading to interest from many European sides. Benfica are expected to sign the striker to a contract for five seasons with a monster €150M buy out clause once they finalize payment plan with Almeria.
With the return of Jorge Jesus to Benfica and the promise made by club President Luis Filipe Vieira to reinforce the club to Jesus' liking, a host of strikers have been connected with a move to the club but Freiburg's Luca Waldschmidt is the only player to have joined the club to date. Benfica have been linked with a flurry of strikers over the past few weeks and no striker with a bigger name then free agent Edinson Cavani but due to constant last minute changes by the players agent during contract negotiations, the club decided to walk away keeping their final offer still on the table.
Benfica of late have been liked with Almeria striker Darwin Nunez with reports from Portugal and Spain stating that the player could travel to Lisbon as early as tomorrow to complete his medicals in what would be a record €24M, plus a player to be named deal, while others say it is another soap opera. Benfica were also said to have come to an agreement with Real Madrid for a season long loan of Mariano Diaz but reports came out that Diaz was looking for €5M per season to make the move which stalled all negotiations.
