Wolverhampton have returned to Portugal were they have their eyes set on the pair of Benfica youngsters. The Wolves are said to have made offers to the Lisbon club for both central defender Ruben Dias and midfielder Gedson Fernandes. Benfica President Luis Filipe Vieira has no interest in letting either player go at this time and Wolverhampton would need to meet the players buy out clauses if they are to acquire either player. Ruben Dias' current buy out clause is €66M but Benfica are currently in negotiations with the player to sign a new contract with an increased salary and the new contract would include a buy out clause of €88M. Gedson Fernandes negotiated a new contract with Benfica last summer and holds a €120M buy out, it would be safe to say that Wolverhampton may not be looking to spend €186M to acquire both players and are hoping to negotiate a smaller buy price.
Benfica look to not have closed their doors on adding another striker as the club has inquired about Freiburg's Luca Waldschmidt. Benfica have already acquired strikers Raul de Tomas, Jhonder Cadiz and Carlos Vinicius during the summer transfer window to date but are also interested in adding the 2018 Euro U21 leading goal scorer. The 23 year old Waldschmidt arrived at Freiburg last summer from Hamburger for €5.7M and scored nine times across all competitions while appearing in 32 games. The clubs have yet to have any serious discussions about the striker and any talks are at the preliminary stage at this time but Waldshmidt is valued at around the €12M mark.
Benfica are about to completing their preseason schedule and will be heading back to Portugal from America to prepare for next weekends Super Cup were they will face arch rivals Sporting. Bruno Lage has said all pre-season that he prefers to work with a smaller main squad then what has been seen in seasons past. One youngster that looks set to open the season with the main squad is 19 year old wing back Nuno Tavares. Tavares has been used on both the right and left back positions during pre-season games and should be slotted in as the back up left back to starter Alex Grimaldo. Tavares split last season between Benfica B and the clubs under 19 entry in the UEFA Youth League. Tavares appeared in 19 total games, producing three helpers. Club fans need not worry as Tavares will be set up to play occasional games with the B squad to maintain his match fitness.
