Benfica land Santos striker Marcos Leonardo

Benfica wasted no time in making a move once the winter transfer window opened, signing striker Marcos Leonardo from Santos. As the club looks to solve its scoring woes from the striker position this season, Benfica paid €18M for Leonardo's services and signed the striker for five seasons with a buy out clause of €150M.

Santos will also be entitled to 10% of the future sale of the 20 year old by Benfica. Leonardo has scored 54 goals while at Santos, with 42 of those goals coming in the past two seasons. Benfica will now look to move one of their three strikers to make room for Leonardo, with the likely candidate being summer signing Arthur Cabral, who has struggled since joining the club.

French club interested in left back Jurasek

Benfica are said to be shopping left back David Jurasek for a potential loan move this winter to French side Marseille who is said to be interested in stepping to the plate to take a swing on the 23 year old Czech footballer.

Benfica acquired Jurasek this past summer from Slavia Prague in hopes he could fill the boots of departing left back Alex Grimaldo, but Jurasek has not been able to get his game to the level expected by the club and is now is being shopped around as Benfica turn their attention to Manchester United left back Alvaro Fernandez, who is currently on loan at Granada.

Jurasek has appeared in just 12 games since arriving at Benfica for a total of 480 minutes and has provided little in the club's attack, while Grimaldo is thriving at Leverkusen, scoring nine goals while providing seven helpers.

 

Benfica make informal contact with Santos striker

Benfica have reached out to 20 year old Santos striker Marcos Leonardo according to reports out of Brazil's Globo Esporte. Santos was recently relegated from the top division in Brazil and will be heading to Serie B for the first time in their history and should see an exodus of its top players over the winter window.

Leonardo's player rights belong to both Santos and Sao Paulo and it is said that the club is looking for between €15M to €20M for the players services. Leonardo scored 21 goals in 2023 across 49 games while providing four helpers. Benfica would need to move out one of its strikers if it were to make this move with Arthur Cabral the likely candidate.

Real Madrid, Arsenal and Newcastle are said to have also inquired about the player.