Benfica have acquired their first player for next season landing Corinthians midfielder Pedrinho for a reported €20M and signing the 21 year old for five seasons while adding a €120M buy out clause to the players contract. Benfica have been linked with Pedrinho since the winter transfer market but have now only made the move official announcing the players signing earlier today.
Pedrinho has been a member of Brazilian side Corinthians since the age of 14 and joined the main squad in early 2017, he has appeared in 92 games across all competitions scoring eight goals while adding another eight assists. Pedrinho will return to Sao Paulo and compete with Corinthians in the Brazilian Serie A until the transfer window re-opens in Portugal during the summer months.
Benfica have released record profits for the first half of the 2019/20 financial year, the current Portuguese league champions earned €104.2M in the first six months of the fiscal year. The figures represent a 639.8% increase from the same period last year with Joao Felix's record smashing summer transfer a big part of the profits. This is the sixth consecutive year that Benfica have recorded a profit in the first six months of the fiscal year with the club bringing in a revenue of €244.3M from July 1/19 to December 31/19, in that same period the clubs operating income also increased by 8.8% from the same time last year to €101.9M. Benfica's current net debt now stands at €45.8M which the club has decreased by a whopping €189.5M since the summer of 2016. These latest figures should see the club once again exceed the €300M mark in revenue for the second consecutive year when the fiscal year ends on June 30, 2020.
Benfica are being linked with Famalicao midfielder Gustavo Assuncao as one of their first summer transfer acquisitions. The 19 year old defensive midfielder joined Famalicao from Atletico Madrid's under 19 squad on a free transfer in July of 2019 and has appeared in 29 games across all competitions chipping in one assist. Benfica who acquired Julian Weigl during the past transfer window, would be adding to a place of strength with Seixal academy product Florentino Luis and Greek international Samaris all able to play in the defensive midfield role. Benfica may be better suited to look at landing a central defender or right back which are two positions that the club needs to reinforce. The move for Assuncao may just be a future move for Benfica who could loan Assuncao out right away to gain experience while owning the players rights for any potential sale or to join the club as a replacement once other players are sold.
/i.s3.glbimg.com/v1/AUTH_bc8228b6673f488aa253bbcb03c80ec5/internal_photos/bs/2020/c/D/5w8ZqmTZOdl5gxRmD1gg/pedrinho-7-thumbnail.jpg "Pedrino")
