This summer's window, saw a net spend that reflects Benfica's ambition to dominate domestically and compete in the Champions League. The standout signing was Colombian defensive midfielder Richard Rios who arrived from Palmeiras in July 23 for a club record €27 million.
Rios, 25, brings tenacity and vision, addressing gaps in the engine room after last season's inconsistencies. Benfica also acquired Bosnian right-back Amar Dedic, who joined from Red Bull Salzburg for €12 million and the 22 year-old has already impressed at the club.
Argentine Enzo Barrenechea arrived on loan from Aston Villa in July, providing versatile defensive midfield cover for the season. His Premier League experience adds maturity to a young squad. Benfica added Rafa Obrador from Real Madrid, the 21 year old came at a bargain price of only €5 million.
Benfica added some attacking depth with Croatian striker Franjo Ivanovic making a move for €22.8 million from Union Saint-Gilloise and in the final days of the window they added attacking midfield gem Georgiy Sudakov on loan from Shakhtar with mandatory buy option that would bring the deal to €27 million and winger Dodi Lukebakio from Sevilla for €20 million.
In total Benfica added seven new faces to the squad and you might say eight with the permanent move of Samuel Dahl who spent the season on loan from Roma. Expect the majority of the acquisitions to regularly be a part of the club's starting XI, game in and game out.
All these arrivals meant players would also need to depart Benfica as the club would require resources to make these types of moves. The first two players to depart the club were free agent winger Angel di Maria who returned to his childhood club and striker Arthur Cabral who made the move to Botafogo for €12 million.
They were then followed by Alvaro Fernandez, who fetched €50 million from Real Madrid, ending his promising stint after just one season. The 22-year-old's distribution skills will be missed, but the fee, funds further squad building.
Midfielder Orkun Kokcu left on loan to Besiktas with a mandatory buy clause for €25 million, following reported tensions with Bruno Lage. Striker Casper Tengstedt moved to Feyenoord for €6 million, while defender Adrian Bajrami went on loan to Luzern.
Loan deals for striker Andrea Belotti, forward Zeki Amdouni and midfielder Renato Sanches ended without the club looking to make any of the moves permanent.
As the window got closer to closing, Benfica would see winger Kerem Akturkoglu move to Fenerbahce for €22.5 million, less than a week after scoring the winning goal knocking them out of the Champions League and midfielder Florentino, joined Burnley on loan with a mandatory buy clause totaling €26 million.
In total the club spent €105.5 million on the acquisition of new players while bringing in €97 million from player departures. Lets see where this takes us for next season.
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