Benfica departs to America for International Champions Cup

Benfica have arrived in America as they prepare to compete in the International Champions Cup, Benfica will kick off their tournament campaign on July 20 against Chivas before facing Fiorentina on July 24 and concluding the tournament against AC Milan on July 26.

Benfica have brought 27 players with them to America which include injured members Andre Almeida and Gedson Fernandes, Jhonder Cadiz and David Tavares remain in Lisbon to recover from recent injuries, while Salvio and President LFV stayed to conclude Salvio's move to Boca Juniors.

Benfica roster for International Champions Cup

Keepers - Vladchodimos, Mile Svilar, Ivan Zlobin
Defenders- Ruben Dias, Ferro, Jardel, Conti, Alex Grimaldo, Nuno Tavares, Joao Ferreira, Tyronne Ebuehi
Midfielders- Pizzi, Samaris, Florentino, Gilberto, Rafa Silva, Fejsa, Chiquinho, Caio Lucas, Franco Cervi, Zivkovic, Taarabt, Tiago Dantas
Forwards- Raul de Tomas, Seferovic, Jota

Benfica and Boca Juniors close to Salvio deal

Benfica and Boca Juniors are closing in a completing a move for Salvio, ending the Argentinian wingers time with the Lisbon club. Salvio has been with Benfica on a permanent basis since being acquired in the summer of 2012 from Atletico Madrid after spending a loan spell during the 2010/11 season with the club. Salvio who is looking for playing time has not been given a boost of confidence by current manager Bruno Lage on what his regular playing time would be with the Eagles during the coming season and Boca are very interested in acquiring the winger for their club. 

Salvio was set to earn a €2.2M annual salary with Benfica this season and the clubs are still in negotiations on exactly what the Salvio move will be. Benfica are not interested in a loan move for Salvio to Boca, even though Boca is willing to pay Benfica around €2M for the loan. Benfica will only part with Salvio if Boca are willing to purchase at least 50% of the players rights for an estimated €6M. Salvio has appeared in 266 games for Benfica in all competitions scoring 62 goals and assisting on another 54. Salvio would depart having won 14 club trophies with Benfica.

Benfica needs to turn attention to right back

The Benfica season is less then a month away as the club gets set to face arch-rivals Sporting for the Super Cup on August 4. Benfica continue to talk to clubs with the goal of shoring up their roster for another run at the league title and with the hopes of a stronger performance in the Champions League compared to seasons past. The latest out of media outlets have Benfica looking to add a keeper, a secondary striker and potentially another striker to the club before the transfer window closes. What you fail to hear much about in the media is the club looking to strengthen the right back position, a position that I believe to be one of the clubs weaker links. Andre Almeida has been as good a soldier for Benfica as you could expect but has always been an inadequate replacement for the much more talented Nelson Semedo.

Benfica's other options if Almeida were to suffer an injury are "a yet to touch the grass because of injury" Tyronne Ebuehi and an "often injured" Eduardo Salvio playing out of position. The right back spot is also a position that the B side finds themselves lacking with currently Simon Ramirez and U19 prodigy Joao Ferreira filling that position with the club. Benfica's promising youngster at the right back position is Alex Pinto but he will not be available to the club as he has been loaned for the season to league new comers Gil Vicente. The experience that Pinto will receive playing regular minutes in the league will be valuable for his future development but this has no barring on Benfica's current situation for the upcoming season. The time is now for Benfica to focus on a position that needs to be strengthened for the upcoming season, failing to do so could leave the club in a tough predicament and suffering disastrous ramifications.