Benfica needs to hang onto Goncalo Ramos

With the summer transfer window getting set to get into full gear, rumours continue to swirl that Benfica are listening to offers for their made in Seixal talent Goncalo Ramos. The 21 year old who seems to score whenever given a proper chance is currently linked to Jose Mourinho's Roma and Premiership side Newcastle with Benfica said to be looking in the €30M to €40M range to move on from the youngster.

Ramos came up through the Benfica system joining the Eagles academy during the summer of 2013 at the tender age of 12. The 21 year old was not given a real look with the main squad under the reign of Jorge Jesus who preferred to lean to veterans over molding younger players. The departure of Jesus at the end of 2021, finally gave Ramos the opportunity to show his talent with the main squad under the guidance of his B club manager Nelson Verissimo. 

Ramos went from regularly not being included in starting XI to an almost guaranteed option under Verissimo. The youngster ended up appearing in 47 games across all competitions in 2021/22, playing 2,447 minutes while scoring eight goals and setting up another four. Ramos thrives in the secondary striker role but could be used by new manager Schmidt in an attacking role from the midfield or as a first substitute from the bench when the club requires a goal and as a fresh pair of legs up front.

Benfica would be wise to learn from their previous mistakes in letting players go a tad too soon with the names of Bernardo Silva, Joao Cancelo and Renato Sanches coming to mind unless they were to receive a Joao Felix type of offer. With manager Schmidt preferring a 4-3-3 formation, the likely hood of the club moving on from Ramos is high but lets hope that Benfica go with a loan out of Ramos with no buy option as opposed to a sale and miss out on another big pay day from a star in the making.

Benfica working on deal with Besiktas for Seferovic

Benfica striker Haris Seferovic is on his last legs at the club as the Lisbon squad continue their talks with Turkish side Besiktas on a permanent move for the Swiss international this summer. Benfica are said to be looking for €8M to move on from the 30 year old who has been a member of the club since coming over on a free transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2017.

Seferovic and Besiktas have come to an agreement on personal terms but the two clubs have yet to finalize the deal between themselves. Seferovic has appeared in 188 across all competitions for Benfica, scoring 74 goals while setting up an additional 24. Seferovic won the league's golden boot during the 2018/19 season when he scored 23 goals while partnering up alongside the clubs former attacker Joao Felix.

Pizzi return to Benfica to be short lived

Long time Benfica midfielder Pizzi is set to open training with Benfica in Seixal as players begin to arrive at camp for medicals this weekend but his stay at the club looks to be short lived as the veteran 32 year old is not in the plans of incoming manager Roger Schmidt and is already being linked with a move to Greek champions Olympiacos this season.

Pizzi spent the second half of last season in Turkey with Basaksehir after falling out of favour at the club but he has appeared in 327 games for the Lisbon side across all competitions, scoring 94 goals while setting up an additional 95. Pizzi remains under contract with Benfica until the summer of 2023 were his remarkable career at the club will come to an end.

Benfica set to open camp on the weekend

Benfica are ready to get their preparations for the 2022/23 season under way this upcoming weekend as the technical team arrives tomorrow while players will start to arrive on the weekend for their medicals and physical tests. Benfica will train for about two weeks before kicking off their pre-season with a game against Reading on July 9.

Benfica will then have additional friendlies against Nice (July 15), Fulham (July 17), Athletic Bilbao (July 22) and Newcastle (July 26). Benfica's third qualifying round opponent in the Champions League will be known when UEFA complete their draw on July 18, dates of the two leg encounter will be released at the time of the draw.

Benfica to continue moving out players

Benfica continue their overhaul of their club as they prepare for the 2022/23 season under new manager Roger Schmidt and yesterday saw the arrival of David Neres from Shakhtar Donetsk and the departure of Everton to Flamengo. The club is far from done with their moves and the next few weeks are critical and should see more arrivals and departures for a club that has failed to win a trophy over their past two seasons.

Benfica players, Julian Weigl, Goncalo Ramos, Alex Grimaldo, Vlachodimos, Haris Seferovic, Adel Taarabt and Rafa Silva's names have all come up in recent weeks with moves away from the club if the price is right. Benfica are also not done their own shopping and continue on the lookout to add a few key pieces to the roster with the names Ricardo Horta, Enzo Fernandez and Ugurcan Cakir linked to the club.

Benfica back in again for Trabzonspor keeper

Benfica are once again linked with Trabzonspor and Turkish national team starter Ugurcan Cakir as the club continues their search for a new keeper for the upcoming season. Benfica first looked at a potential deal for the 26 year old a couple of seasons ago but did not move forward with a move at that time but with new manager Roger Schmidt looking to shake things up at the club, expect Benfica to have a new number one when the season is underway.

Trabzonspor are said to want €15M to move on from Cakir and Benfica are not the only club interested in Cakir with French clubs Marseille and Monaco also said to be in the mix for his services. Cakir has appeared in 159 games across all competitions for Trabzonspor in his time at the club and has kept 34 clean sheets. Cakir was in net earlier this year for Turkey when they faced Portugal in a playoff for a place at Qatar 2022.

Benfica has earned €450M in the past four seasons

Benfica continue to cash in on their top players and with the latest sale of striker Darwin Nunez earlier this week, the club can claim to have now earned €450M from the departures over the past four seasons. With the summer window still open we can expect the club to top the €500M mark with the movement of a few other pieces from last seasons team.

The sale of Joao Felix and Darwin Nunez accounts for 44% of the clubs earnings in this time span, with Felix joining Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020 for a club record €127.2M and Nunez moving for €75M which still does not include potential add ons that would see the deal grow to the €100M mark.

In the same span, Benfica have spent €223.5M acquiring players, with Jorge Jesus' return in the summer of 2021 accounting for over 50% of buys, in what turned into a costly miss at the club who spent a season record of €120M. Benfica will continue to profit from their most valuable players after every season but it would be nice to know what their results just might be if the club was able to hang onto their players for just a little while longer.

The Breakdown of the Darwin Nunez deal

The deal we have been expecting since the conclusion of the season has finally been completed, as Uruguayan star striker Darwin Nunez will depart Benfica and join English side Liverpool for a record haul that could hit the €100M mark if all add ons are hit.

We take a look at the breakdown of the deal officially announced between Benfica and Liverpool today:

• Benfica will receive €75M up front from Liverpool
  
• Benfica will receive €5M  when Nunez appears in 10 games
• Benfica will receive €10M when Nunez appears in 60 games
• Benfica will receive €10M with achievable bonuses 

Nunez's former Spanish club Almeria will receive 20% from the sale.

Check Out:

The Biggest Transfer Sales in Benfica History

Benfica should take a chance on Estoril attacking midfielder

As Benfica look to make over the club this summer for new incoming manager Roger Schmidt, the club will see an exodus of players from last seasons roster, but what the club needs to look a bit more into is what hidden gems they may be able to find within the Portuguese League itself and one of those players plays just 30 km away at Estoril in attacking midfielder Andre Franco.

The 24 year old is available for a mere €5M and had a great season at Estoril scoring eleven goals while setting up four across thirty seven games of action and was named the man of the match on four occasions. Franco came up through the Sporting youth system and spent a season at Belenenses before arriving at Estoril in the summer of 2018. Franco has been linked with Jorge Jesus at Fenerbahce but Benfica would be wise to give the player a try for the price that Estoril is looking for.

One of Benfica's big projects this summer is rebuilding the midfield which disappointed last season in more games then not and Franco would add an element to the attack that the club lacked last season. You have to like a player of Franco's caliber who spent a season away from the professional game and almost called it quits on his career but his determination has got him to this point in his career and what is wrong with adding some heart to the club, something sorely lacking.

Benfica look to bring old face home

Benfica continue to look around the globe to strengthen their squad for the upcoming season after consecutive third place finishes in Portugal and the latest name linked to the club is former Seixal academy player Andre Gomes who is currently at Everton. The 28 year old last wore Benfica colours during the  2013/2014 season and has spent time at both Valencia and Barcelona before arriving in England with Everton.

Everton are ready to move on from Gomes as they look to raise funds for moves this summer and his return to Benfica will depend on the amount that Everton are looking to receive for the player. Benfica are not alone in their interest for Gomes as Portuguese rivals FC Porto are also said to be monitoring the situation closely. Gomes appeared in forty-one games with Benfica across all competitions, scoring four goals in that span.

Benfica path to Champions League group revealed

Benfica have learned their path to the group stage of the Champions League as the club looks to add millions to it's coffers for the 2022-23 season. Benfica will once again go through the league path after finishing third in the Portuguese League for the second season in a row as they bid to be one of two clubs to earn a place in the lucrative group stage.

Benfica will be placed in the seeded pot and will need to win their 3rd qualifying round and then a playoff round to clinch their group stage place. Their potential opponents in the 3rd round qualifying round could come from any of Monaco, Sturm Graz, Fenerbahce, AEK Larnaca, Midtylland and Union Saint-Gilloise. PSV could once again be a potential opponent in the playoff round but the Lisbon side would avoid the Dutch club in the first round of games.

Benfica set to pay €8M for Slavia right back Bah

Benfica are set to announce the acquisition of right back Alexander Bah this week, sealing a move for the 24 year old Danish International from Czech side Slavia Prague. Benfica are set to pay Slavia €8M to land Bah and should sign the player to a five year contract. Bah arrived in Lisbon earlier today to complete all the formalities before he signs a contract making the move to Benfica official.

Benfica have been in talks with Slavia for Bah for the past few weeks, as they look to strengthen a position that saw a rotation of players in the starting eleven last season. Bah told reporters upon his arrival to Lisbon that he was very excited to be in the country and is looking forward to getting started with the club. Bah will become Benfica's third player signing since the conclusion of the season.

Benfica trying to figure out what to do with Pizzi

Long time Benfica midfielder Pizzi is not in the clubs plans for the upcoming season and the club is trying to figure out what to do with the 32 year old. Pizzi spent the second half of last season with Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir but has been returned to the club with the conclusion of the season.

Pizzi still has one year left on his contract with Benfica and the club is looking at more lucrative options for the player in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Pizzi has appeared in 357 games across all competitions for Benfica, scoring 94 goals while setting up an additional 96. Pizzi captured four League Titles along with three Super Cups, two League Cups and a Taca de Portugal in his time at Benfica.

Jorge Jesus could bring Joao Mario to Fenerbahce

The recent hiring of former Benfica manager Jorge Jesus with Turkish club Fenerbahce could see the Portuguese manager once again reunite with midfielder Joao Mario for the third time if the two clubs are able to agree to terms. Jesus has previously managed Mario when the two were together at Sporting and then once again at Benfica at the insistence of Jesus this past season.

Benfica who are looking to reduce salary would be open to any type of move with Fenerbahce, whether it be a sale or a loan of the 29 year old who is signed with the club until the summer of 2026. Joao Mario is currently the clubs highest earner, receiving €3.85M per season and appeared in 45 games across all competitions for Benfica, scoring four goals while setting up another seven.