Benfica are now the favourites to land Athletico Paranaense midfielder Bruno Guimaraes with the help of Spanish club Atletico Madrid who have the right of first refusal to land the 22 year old Brazilian. Guimaraes who was selected to the league Best XI for the 2019 season has already expressed his desire to move to Europe in 2020 and reports the past couple of days say the player is excited with a potential move to the Lisbon side. Atletico Madrid who currently have their sights set on landing a striker in January are rumoured to be ready to waive their right to land the player and make an agreement with Benfica that would allow the club to land the midfielder for €20M but give the Spanish club the right of first refusal if and when Benfica decide to move the player. Guimaraes appeared in 35 games across all competitions this year for Paranaense scoring four goals and setting up another three while being a force in the midfield. Benfica who are looking to strengthen their midfield in January are open to moving current midfielders Fejsa, Samaris along with wingers Zivkovic and Caio Lucas when the transfer window opens to shore up room for a Guimaraes acquisition.
According to reports coming out of sports daily Record, Benfica currently have set their sights on Monaco right back Benjamin Henrichs with a transfer move coming as early as January for the 22 year old German International. Benfica have scouted the versatile fullback who can also play at the left back and midfield position also on several occasions this fall but know that they will need to open the purse strings if they are to land Henrichs from Monaco. Henrichs joined Monaco from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer of 2018 for a transfer fee of €20M and Monaco are said to want something similar if they are to let Henrichs depart. The 22 year old has only appeared in six games across all competitions this season for Monaco as he has battled with foot and back injuries. Benfica who currently have youngster Tomas Tavares in the starting right back role with veteran Andre Almeida on the sideline nursing an injury are looking to add some insurance as they battle to win their seventh Portuguese crown in the last eight seasons.
Benfica winger Rafa Silva is set to make his long awaited return from injury in January of 2020 with the Lisbon Derby encounter against Sporting in mid January as the target game for his comeback. Rafa who has been out of action since October 23 after suffering an injury in Benfica's Champions League game against Lyon was off to a great start to the season before going down.
Rafa who appeared in twelve games across all competitions before the injury had chipped in four goals and four assists and was leading the Portuguese League in player rating per game. Benfica though have continued their march to winning another league championship and his replacement Franco Cervi has contributed to the clubs success after a slow start. Benfica are looking forward to adding Rafa to the roster in January and hope that he does not take too long to shake off the rust.
