Benfica go into Week 16 with a home game against the leagues cellar dwellers Aves in Portuguese League action.
Benfica will need to be focused on this encounter and not look ahead to next weeks Lisbon Derby and the seasons halfway mark. Benfica will play Aves at 7pm
WEST.
They will dress 18 players from the list below.
Keepers- Vlachodimos, Ivan Zlobin
Defenders- Tomas Tavares, Alex Grimaldo, Ruben Dias, Ferro, Andre Almeida,
Midfielders- Chiquinho, Pizzi, Gabriel, Franco Cervi, Samaris, Caio Lucas, Gedson Fernandes, Julian Weigl
Forwards- Carlos Vinicius, Seferovic, Jota
Benfica President Luis Filipe Vieira is in Italy looking to close a deal for 21 year old Serie B striker Gianluca Scamacca according to reports from Italy. Benfica who are in the process of closing a sale with Espanyol for the services of Raul de Tomas have their eyes set on his replacement and feel that the Sassuolo striker who is currently on loan at Ascoli would be the right fit for the club. Benfica are said to have offered Sassuolo €10M plus bonuses to acquire Scamacca and Vieira is preparing to meet with Scamacca personally as he looks to convince him to join the Lisbon club this January. Scamacca has appeared in 17 games for Ascoli this season scoring ten goals and has been a member of Italy's youth national sides at every level from U15 to the U21. Benfica are reluctant to go much higher then their current offer for a player that has appeared in only three Serie A games to date.
Reports coming out of both Portugal and Spain have Benfica reaching an agreement with Espanyol for the services of recently acquired Spanish striker Raul de Tomas. Espanyol are said to have made an offer to Benfica yesterday to land De Tomas for €20M plus bonuses which would actually earn Benfica a profit on the €20M the club paid Real Madrid this summer to acquire the 25 year old. De Tomas has not been able to find a groove since joining the Lisbon club and with Benfica looking to shore up their midfield the €20M will assist in their chase to land Atletico Paranaense midfielder Bruno Guimaraes. Benfica could earn up to an additional €2.5M in bonuses this season if De Tomas or the club hit certain targets that have been agreed to. Benfica will get €1M if De Tomas appears in ten league games, they will also earn an additional €1M bonus if Espanyol avoid relegation this season. Benfica are also set to earn €500K if De Tomas scores ten goals for Espanyol and will retain 20% of the players rights towards any future sale. De Tomas' Benfica career has been less then memorable and the Spaniard has been pushing to leave the club and return to his native Spain since losing regular minutes to Carlos Vinicius and Chiquinho. De Tomas has appeared in 17 games across all competitions this season, finding the net on three occasions while adding one helper.
