Benfica continue their search for a keeper that will be able to battle with current number one Vladchodimos for starts between the posts. The latest reports from Portugal say that Benfica have spoken to RB Leipzig about their current starting netminder Peter Gulacsi but were not thrilled with the €22M asking price Leipzig are demanding. The Hungarian is 29 years old and this could be Leipzig's way of letting teams know that the prefer to keep their starting keeper instead of moving him this summer. Benfica are open to spending up to €10M on the keeper search and the lower the better for the Lisbon side.
Benfica are watching Partizan's 18 year old central defender Strahinja Pavlovic according to reports coming out of Portugal. Benfica are always open to adding and developing young talent, so this is not much of a surprise that they would be interested in a player who is considered one of the upcoming young talents in Serbian football. Pavlovic has represented Serbia as a member of the U19, U17 and U16 squads and it is also being reported that Partizan would be opened to departing with the player but have placed a €6M price tag on the player.
Benfica kicked off the upcoming Portuguese season with a 5-0 rout of arch rivals Sporting in the Portuguese Super Cup at the Algarve stadium, winning their second trophy in the last 24 hours after being crowned the International Champions Cup winners yesterday. Benfica's Pizzi and Rafa Silva combined for three goals and three assists in the contest with the former scoring a brace and being named the player of the game. Alex Grimaldo chipped in a free kick goal when he just squeezed the ball between the post and Sporting keeper Renan's out reached hand. Benfica newcomer Chiquinho would end the scoring tapping in a Seferovic pass in extra time.
Sporting's best chances for a goal came from the foot of star midfielder Bruno Fernandes who made sure that Benfica keeper Vladchodimos made a couple of outstanding stops to keep Sporting off the scoreboard. The down side of Benfica's dominating performance is that midfielder Gabriel looked to may have picked up a knock during the game and was substituted, the seriousness of the injury is yet to be determined. Benfica will kick off defense of their league title on Saturday when they host last seasons division two champions Pacos Ferreira.
