Manchester United scouts were recently spotted in Braga at Benfica's most recent league game and the English side are said to have had an eye on not one, but two of Benfica's youngsters. United's manager Ole Gunner Solskjaer is said to be intrigued with both Benfica defender Ruben Dias and defensive midfielder Florentino Luis. Solskjaer would like the players sooner then later and is keen on acquiring the pair when the winter transfer window opens in January. Dias and Florentino currently have buyout clauses of €88M and €120M between the two of them and after a summer that saw the club infused with cash from player sales Benfica would be less inclined to sell either player in January if their buy out clauses are not met by United. The youngsters are current main stays in Benfica's starting eleven and key members of the squad as they look to push for another league title.
Ruben Dias who is 22 years of age and Florentino who is 20 years of age both came through Benfica's much talked about Seixal academy, the academy has produced the likes of Bernardo Silva, Goncalo Guedes, Joao Felix and Renato Sanches to name a few players. Benfica will one day line their pockets with cash when they are ready to sell each player but that time may not be in January 2020 much to the disappointment of the Manchester club. United and their deep pockets will more then likely need to hold off until next summer if they are interested in acquiring the youngsters from Benfica, as the club would be more open to discussing a move at that time. Benfica fans should enjoy watching Dias and Florentino this season as United are the first but not the last of Europe's elite that will be knocking on the door for each player come January.
The worlds national team squads are in action this week and that means that many clubs are practicing without their full squads as players get called up to their national sides, the Under 20 sides and more. These are the current Benfica players away with their national sides.
National Teams
Portugal - Pizzi, Rafa Silva, Ruben Dias, Ferro
Switzerland - Seferovic
Greece - Vlachodimos, Samaris
Morocco - Taarabt
Under 21 Teams
Portugal- Jota, Nuno Tavares, Florentino
Belgium- Mile Svilar
Under 19 Team
Portugal - Tomas Tavares
Benfica have submitted their player list to UEFA for the upcoming Champions League tournament. Benfica submitted their main A list squad and a secondary B List squad in which players can replace players that are removed from the A list squad. Benfica will start their Champions League campaign after the International break against RB Leipzig at home on September 17, 2019.
Benfica A List Squad
Keepers: Vlachodimos, Zlobin
Defenders: Ruben Dias, Andre Almeida, Ferro, Alex Grimaldo, Conti, Tyronne Ebuehi, Jardel
Midfielders: Pizzi, Florentino, Gabriel, Rafa Silva, Gedson, Fejsa, Samaris, Chiquinho, Taarabt, Franco Cervi
Forwards: Raul de Tomas, Seferovic, Carlos Vinicius, Caio Lucas, Zivkovic
Benfica B List Squad
Keepers: Svilar, Celton Biai, Fabio Duarte
Defenders: Nuno Tavares, Joao Ferreira, Kalaica, Tomas Tavares, Pedro Alvaro
Midfielders: Tiago Dantas, David Tavares, Goncalo Ramos, Rafael Brito
Forwards: Jota, Nuno Santos
