Benfica who are looking for a manager to replace the departed Bruno Lage have been linked to a variety of available managers but the apple of Benfica President Luis Filipe Vieira's eye remains former Benfica man Jorge Jesus who is currently employed by Brazilian side Flamengo. Jesus managed Benfica from the summer of 2009 to the summer of 2015 leading the club to three League Titles, five League Cups, a Super Cup, a Taca de Portugal, two Europa League finals while managing to win 225 games from 321 managed games during his spell with the club. The stumbling block that Benfica face in acquiring Jesus is that he recently signed a new contract with Flamengo until the summer of 2021 that will pay him an annual salary of €4M but this has not stopped Vieira from sending club representatives to Brazil to discuss the possibility of bringing the 65 year old back home to Portugal. One of Jesus' main concerns with the current club is that he wants to have a squad that is competitive in Europe, Vieira will need to open the purse strings to appease the return of JJ.
Benfica are one of three clubs linked with a move for Ajax's 21 year old Brazilian striker Danilo with the other two clubs being mentioned by Italy's CalcioNapoli24 being Tottenham and Napoli. Danilo who joined Ajax from Santos in the summer of 2017 has made only four appearances for Ajax's main squad but that has not stopped the European clubs from inquiring about the youngsters services. Danilo has scored 24 goals in 42 appearances for Ajax's U21 side over the past two seasons and would be a welcome addition to Benfica who are looking to add talented youth to their squad as they look to bounce back from a disappointing season. No details at this time have been released of what it would take to land Danilo with the Lisbon side for next season.
Benfica goes into its new era post Bruno Lage as they get set to take on Boavista in Week 30 action looking to not only save what is left of their slim championship hopes but also to save face of a poor run of form that has cost the club in more ways then one. Nelson Verissimo leads the squad in an intern role as they get set to take on Boavista tomorrow at home at 9:15pm WEST. Benfica will dress 20 players from the list below.
Keepers- Vlachodimos, Mile Svilar, Ivan Zlobin
Defenders- Tomas Tavares, Jardel, Ruben Dias, Ferro, Nuno Tavares, Andre Almeida
Midfielders- Chiquinho, Pizzi, Franco Cervi, Rafa Silva, Samaris, Florentino, Julian Weigl, Zivkovic, Gabriel
Forwards- Carlos Vinicius, Jota, Dyego Sousa, Seferovic
