Benfica who can not move from their current second spot in the league may have a different look when they take on Aves to their starting eleven and the club plays out the season. Benfica will take on Aves
tomorrow at 9:15pm WEST and will dress
20 players from the list below.
Keepers- Vlachodimos, Mile Svilar, Ivan Zlobin
Defenders- Tomas Tavares, Jardel, Ruben Dias, Ferro, Nuno Tavares, Andre Almeida
Midfielders- Chiquinho, Pizzi, Rafa Silva, Samaris, Florentino, Zivkovic, Gabriel, Paulo Bernardo
Forwards- Carlos Vinicius, Jota, Dyego Sousa, Seferovic, Goncalo Ramos
The move of Jorge Jesus to Benfica has already started the rumours of the manager being linked to former players, with the latest player to be linked with joining Jesus is former Sporting striker Islam Slimani. Jesus has always been a big fan of a two striker system in which one of the strikers is a more mobile moving striker as was the partnerships of Jonas/Lima, Gabigol/Henrique from past Jesus clubs. Slimani who was sold by Sporting to Leicester City in the summer of 2016 has spent the past three seasons on loan at Newcastle, Fenerbahce and Monaco and has a valid contract which will not expire with City until the summer of 2021. The English side should have no issue loaning the player out for a fourth straight season if Benfica want to bring the player in but the main stumbling block will be Slimani's €4.5M annual salary and if Benfica would be open to pay that sum for the 32 year old striker.
Slimani appeared in 82 games for Sporting across all competitions, scoring 32 goals with 10 helpers and was a member of Sporting's 2016 Super Cup and 2015 Taca de Portugal winning sides.
A big name that is now being mentioned around Portugal with a link to Benfica is former PSG striker Edinson Cavani who is available on a free transfer after departing the Paris side. With big changes expected at Benfica next season with the arrival of Jorge Jesus, Benfica is looking to add a more established striker up front and Cavani's name is the dream that the club would like to make a reality. Jesus had Cavani on his short list while Flamengo's manager and his move to Benfica has not changed the managers plans to take a run at the Uruguayan international. The 33 year old striker has spent the past seven seasons with PSG where he has appeared in 301 games across all competitions, scoring 200 goals while setting up another 43. Cavani would require a large investment by Benfica with his salary demands being in the range of €10M per season, which is a huge stumbling block for the Portuguese side. Alternatively Benfica are also being linked with Sevilla's 24 year old striker Carlos Fernandez who spent the season on loan with Granada and the move would work better within the clubs budget.
