Benfica make third move of the off season

Benfica announced their third move of the off season acquiring Boavista striker Petar Musa for €5M and signing the 24 year old Croatian to at 5 year deal with an €80M buy out clause. The deal also includes Boavista acquiring 50% of left back Ricardo Mangas playing rights which will now give the Porto club full ownership of the player and they also also receive 50% of defensive midfielder Illija Vukotic playing rights.

Benfica expect to be busy this off season having already moved on from intern manager Nelson Verissimo and hiring his replacement in PSV's German manager Roger Schmidt. Benfica are now looking to bolster there midfield next, already being linked to a host of players from Europe and South America. 

Our original Petar Musa transfer blog from April 2022 ➡️➡️➡️➡️➡️ HERE

Benfica linked to Arsenal keeper

 

Benfica's incoming manager Roger Schmidt is said to be looking for a new keeper at the club who can potentially take over the number one job next season and the latest keeper linked with the Lisbon side is former Arsenal number one and German national Bernd Leno according to reports from Portugal.

The 30 year old Leno had been Arsenal's number one choice since joining the London club in the summer of 2018 but fell into the backup role during this current season. Schmidt is a fan of Leno from their time together at Bayer Leverkusen but Arsenal's price tag of €10M may be too rich for Benfica to pay for a keeper who is not guaranteed to be the clubs starter.

Javi Garcia surprised by Benfica links

Current Boavista center back and former Benfica midfielder Javi Garcia was taken by surprise by a report in the Portuguese daily A Bola last week that linked the 35 year old with a return to Benfica as part of incoming manager Roger Schmidt's coaching staff for next season. Javi confirmed that no one from Benfica has spoken to him about such a move and that he still has a contract for one more season at Boavista.

Javi appeared in 132 games across all competitions for Benfica in three seasons at the club from 2009 to 2012, winning one League Championship along with three Taca da Liga trophies before departing. Javi has spent time in his career at various clubs which include Real Madrid, Manchester City and Real Betis among a host of others. Javi joined Boavista on a free transfer in the summer of 2020.