Benfica are kicking tires when it comes to a potential replacement for Alex Grimaldo who has been heavily linked with a departure to Tottenham before the start of next season. The Eagles are said to be interested in Villarreal's 23 year old left back Alfonso Pedraza who has spent the season on loan at Real Betis but has failed to see regular minutes with the Sevilla side, playing behind current starter Alex Moreno. Pedraza has appeared in 12 games across all competitions this season after appearing in 82 games the previous two seasons between Villarreal and Alaves. Villarreal are said to be asking €10M for the sale of Pedraza which is in the ball park that Benfica would be open to spending on the former Spainish U21 international.
The current COVID-19 pandemic has seen the stoppage of league play since March 12 and some of the only good news coming out of this current world crisis is that Benfica has seen its list of injured players return back to health. Andre Almeida, Gabriel and Jardel are all awaiting the green light to return to training without limitations in preparation for the league resuming regular play down the road. Benfica would welcome the return to full strength of the squad with two of its regular starting eleven in Almeida and Gabriel back as options for Bruno Lage and Jardel would return as the third choice option at the center back position which the club currently lacks. The Portuguese league is currently considering resuming play at the end of May with the whole competition finishing the remaining games under quarantine in the Algarve in empty stadiums but what would be a boom for television viewership.
With the Portuguese league suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic midfielder Julian Weigl has decided to use his time off to continue to learn the Portuguese language as he gets adapted to his new homeland. Weigl posted a video online yesterday with his girlfriend as the two translated some extremely long German words into Portuguese. Weigl recently joined Benfica during the winter transfer window for €20M from Borussia Dortmund and has appeared in eleven games across all competitions for Benfica.
