Benfica loan Caio Lucas to Al Sharjah

Caio Lucas' stay at Benfica was a short one after joining the club in the summer on a free transfer from Al-Ain, Benfica have loaned Lucas back to U.A.E. this time with Al Sharjah for 18 months with an option to buy for €10M. Benfica will also receive €1.5M from the Emirates club for the loan spell. The 25 year old Lucas appeared in only eleven games for Benfica across all competitions, scoring once and assisting on another in 317 minutes of action this season. Lucas continued to fall down the pecking order with the club in many cases not even ending up on the substitutes bench. Al Sharajah are hoping that Lucas can regain the form he displayed with Al-Ain during his three seasons as a member of the club.

Alaves lead race to land Benfica's Fejsa

Spanish side Alaves are the leading contenders to land Benfica's little used midfielder Ljubomir Fejsa according to reports coming from Portugal. Fejsa who has appeared in only five games across all competitions for Benfica this season has also been linked with Turkish clubs Sivasspor and Fenerbahce, he last appeared on the field for Benfica in early October. The recent acquisition of German midfielder Julian Weigl during this transfer period has made the 31 year old Serbian expandable and with manager Bruno Lage's preference on smaller squads this should mean that Fejsa will depart before the winter transfer window closes. The clubs have not agreed if the move would be permanent or if Benfica will loan Fejsa until the end of the season with an option to make the deal permanent. Fejsa joined Benfica in the summer of 2013 from Olympiacos and has appeared in 168 games across all competitions scoring twice, the defensive midfield wizard though has spent more and more time in recent seasons in the clubs infirmary dealing with a long list of injuries. Fejsa has won 13 trophies in his time at Benfica with five of those being league championships.

Benfica mid-season awards by Senhor Benfica

The Portuguese League season has hit it's midway point with Benfica currently sitting atop the league with a seven point lead over second place FC Porto. I would like to take this time in the season to hand out my mid-season awards to the teams players in a variety of categories, so here goes:

Goal of the Season

Nuno Tavares

 The youngster has appeared in only 3 leagues games but his first career goal was a bomb from outside the box to get the season going.

Best Defender

Ruben Dias

Dias has been a rock all season in Benfica's back four, he is a big part of why the club has earned 12 clean sheets in the first half of the season, he has 40 clearances and 18 interceptions during the season.

Best Playmaker

Alex Grimaldo

Benfica's left back has stepped up again this season adding six assists while taking most of the clubs important free kicks, his 769 accurate pass completions leads the club at the halfway mark.

Best Newcomer

Carlos Vinicius

Vinicius was not the striker that the clubs fans were all excited about when the season commenced but he has stepped up to take over the starting striker role and sits second in the league with 10 goals, scoring a goal in every 69 minutes of action.