Benfica plans for Gianluca Prestianni

Benfica turned down plenty of offers for 19 year old Gianluca Prestianni during the winter transfer window, as they settled on working on the Argentinian's development themselves at this stage of his career.

Acquired by Benfica last winter from Velez Sarsfield for €9M, the winger has yet to show the promise that had been expected of him when the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid where linked with acquiring his services before the Lisbon club made the move.

Bruno Lage has yet to use Prestianni since taking over coaching duties from Roger Schmidt in September but has the youngster training with the main squad and available to play in games with the club's B team in which he has appeared in three games to date.

Benfica are counting on Prestianni to develop into a fundamental piece of the squad over the years, which would turn into another cash cow at the cash register if he is to fulfill his potential.