Benfica bringing Angel di Maria back for another season

Benfica look to have agreed to a new deal with winger Angel di Maria to return to the Lisbon club for one more season after seeing his contract end on June 30th, according to a tweet by famed football journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The 36 year old seems to have looked at his available options and felt that Benfica is the best choice for himself and his family for at least one more season. Di Maria appeared in 48 games across all competitions, scoring 17 goals and setting up 15 assists in his return to Benfica.

Here is hoping that Roger Schmidt uses Di Maria a bit more efficiently than he did during the 2023-24 season, as the overuse of Di Maria did see the Argentinian look gassed at certain points towards the second half of the season. 

No information about the contract has yet to be released, but you would have to expect that Di Maria will sign a contract with a lower annual salary than the €9M+ that he was paid by the club in 2023-24. I can not say that I like the move but I can live with it if he is used better then he was last season by the manager.

New signing Pavlidis already heading for surgery

Benfica's newly signed striker, Vangelis Pavlidis will be out of action for a minimum of two weeks following his surgery to repair a broken right thumb, an injury suffered early into the club's second friendly against Spanish side Celta Vigo after landing on his thumb from an awkward fall.

The 25 year old Greek international got off to an exciting start with the club, scoring three goals in the club's first two friendlies after Benfica paid AZ Alkmaar €18M for the striker's services just a few weeks ago and hope that this minor setback, is just that, a minor setback as the club counts on Pavlidis to be a big piece of a club looking to recapture the league title this season.

Benfica land left back Beste from Heidenheim

Benfica look to have found their solution at left back with today's signing of Jan-Niklas Beste from German club FC Heidenheim. Benfica will pay €8M to acquire Beste, with a potential €2M in add ons if certain incentives are met and sign Beste to a five year contract.

Beste is the second left back acquired by Benfica this summer after they activated the buy clause on Alvaro Fernandez at the conclusion of the season and the club is hoping that both players will bring out the best in one another as they battle for playing minutes with the Lisbon club.

The 25 year old has been used in more of wing back role over the previous few seasons with Heidenheim and has not played regularly at left back since the 2020-21 season. This is the type of player that manager Roger Schmidt loves, as he can move anywhere along the left side of the field if needed.

Beste appeared in thirty-two games, scoring eight goals while providing fourteen helpers across all competitions for Heidenheim last season, his first full season in Bundesliga action. The left footer was also one of the last cuts to make the German squad for this summer's Euro 2024.