Rafa Silva now free to sign with any club

When the clock struck midnight, it officially made Rafa Silva a free agent able to negotiate a new contract with any club, with his contract at Benfica coming to an end at the conclusion of the season.

Benfica and Rafa seem far apart on a new contract, as the forward's asking price is out of the range of what the club is open to paying. The 30 year old currently earns €2.5M per season at Benfica and the club seems to have accepted that they will part ways with the player when the season ends.

Rafa turned down an offer during the summer from Qatari side Al-Sadd, which would have paid him a reported €7.5M per season but many feel that the Middle East could be the forward's future destination as clubs there continue to splash high salaries on foreign arrivals.

Rafa has been with Benfica since arriving in the summer of 2016 from Braga and has appeared in 300 games across all competitions for the Lisbon side. Rafa in his time at the club, has scored 81 goals, while setting up an additional 72. Rafa's Instagram account also no longer references Benfica a sign of things to come?