Jonas will travel to Portugal to sit down with Benfica management this upcoming week as both sides look to come to an agreement to rescind the final year of his contract with the club. The 35 year old battled through injuries this past season and is set to announce his retirement from football. Benfica plan to have Jonas say his final good byes to fans at the clubs season presentation game on July 10 against Anderlecht. Jonas joined Benfica in the fall of 2014 and appeared in 183 games with the club in all competitions scoring an incredible 137 goals. Jonas won the golden boot as the leagues top scorer on two occasions and was named the league player of the year in 2015 and 2016. Jonas finishes his career as Benfica's 13th all time scorer in all competitions. Jonas will be remembered foundly at the Luz and finishes his Benfica career having won nine trophies with the club, four of them League Championships.
Benfica and Fiorentina both join the race to land Lazio's right back Patric. According to reports from Italian paper Calciomercato, Benfica are looking for a right back to compete with Andre Almeida and at worse at least give the starting right back some days of rest more regularly next season. Patric was on Benfica's radar back in 2015 while still at Barcelona but decided to join the Italian club instead of making the move to the Luz. Lazio look to be thinning their squad and Patric who appeared in 15 league games last season could be had for an affordable €3M.
Benfica have informed central defender Cristian Lema that he is not in the teams plans for next season as Bruno Lage starts to shape his squad. Lema arrived last summer at Benfica on a free transfer from Argentina club Belgrano, signing a contract until the summer of 2023. The 29 year old appeared in one league game and one Champions League game for Benfica last season before being loaned out to Penarol of Uruguay in February for the remainder of the season. Benfica will let Lema leave if they receive €3M from a club to purchase his services. The local Argentinian press say that clubs Boca Juniors and Colon are interested in Lema.
