Benfica reach agreement with Rafa Silva to return from Besiktas

Benfica have reached an agreement with Rafa Silva for two and half seasons to return to his former club and are now working with Besiktas to seal the move as the Lisbon club hope to welcome back the 32 year old attacking forward who left as a free agent just under two seasons ago.

The two clubs are said to be close to agreeing on a fee for Rafa which would include some bonuses attached to the players performance with the club. Benfica is said to have offered Besiktas €5M + bonuses but the Turkish club is looking for a bit more (around €7.5M) before agreeing to move on from the Portuguese player.

Besiktas is said to be going as far as asking Benfica to cover Rafa's unpaid salary for November, December and January of this season, which the player is owed but has not received since he has been out of action. Rafa has appeared in 16 games for Besiktas across all competitions this season, scoring five goals while providing three helpers, after coming off a season that saw him score 18 goals.

Rafa Silva spent eight seasons with Benfica, appearing in 326 games across all competitions, he scored 94 goals while assisting on 79 goals. Rafa captured six trophies while a member of the club, capturing three league titles, a pair of Super Cups and a Taca de Portugal.