Rafa Silva set to say good bye to Benfica fans

Rafa Silva's tenure at Benfica is set to come to an end at the conclusion of the season when his contract comes up, making him a free agent after spending the past eight seasons with the Lisbon club. Rafa has already informed President Rui Costa that he will not be returning to the club next season.

The speedy forward joined Benfica from Braga for €16M in the summer of 2016 and the club has gotten the most out of the soon to be 31-year-old. Rafa has appeared in 325 games across all competitions, scoring 92 goals while providing 78 helpers. 

Rafa ends his Benfica career in the Top 25 of all time in both appearances and goals scored and captured six trophies during his eight seasons at the club, with three of the silverware being a league championship.

Benfica play their final home game of the season this weekend against Arouca at the Estadio da Luz and Rafa will be set to say his good bye to the club's fans as he moves onto the next chapter of his playing career as a fan favourite for his long time commitment to the club.

Benfica's season is over.... now what?

Benfica's 2023-24 campaign is all but done with two meaningless games remaining in league action as the club settles for second spot this season after their humiliating loss to Famalicao over the weekend handed the Portuguese League crown to cross-town rivals Sporting. 

President Rui Costa will have some serious decisions to make this summer, with the most hotly debated being whether manager Roger Schmidt should return for a third season after a disappointing campaign that saw the club only capture the Super Cup to kick off the football season.

Schmidt still has two years remaining on his contract and his departure from the club with his staff could prove quite costly. The other decisions that Costa will need to make is which players will remain with the club next season and which will see their time end.

The club has free agents in Angel di Maria and Rafa Silva. The thought is that both would be open to remaining with the club, but Costa would be best to save those potential big salaries that both players would command and go in a different direction next season.

Benfica also has a striker issue, with only Marcos Leonardo, who arrived in January, likely to continue at the club next season. So look for the club to move on from low scoring strike options Arthur Cabral and Casper Tengstedt when the summer window opens.

Look for Benfica to also cash in on some of their more valuable youngsters, with Antonio Silva and Joao Neves' names the most mentioned moving on, but I can only see the club moving on from one of the two, with the most likely candidate being Antonio Silva.

Benfica should also make some smaller moves with the likes of Joao Mario, Florentino and Morato potentially donning new club jerseys next season. This will be an interesting summer and Benfica fans hope that the next set of departures and arrivals will bring silverware next season.

Benfica need to win for any hope at title

Benfica go into their game against Famalicao with a slim chance of repeating as Portuguese League champions, but they will need a victory today to remain in contention. The magic number is now one for Sporting to clinch the Portuguese League crown, which could happen as early as next weekend, but Benfica needs to let Sporting earn the title and not give it to them with dropped points in this game.

It has been a disappointing season for Benfica fans. A lot more was expected from this team, which on paper is the strongest squad in the Portuguese League but has been poorly managed all season. The club will see a series of changes during the summer season, which should see a series of players coming in and going out.

Kick off for today's game is at 8:30pm WEST.