The Brazilians are arriving with winter signing Pedrinho and Gilberto landing in Lisbon on Friday as the newest member and potentially member get set for discussions and physicals at Seixal. Winger Pedrinho who Benfica acquired during the winter transfer window from Corinthians made the trip to the Luz in which he had discussions with new manager Jorge Jesus while right back Gilberto arrived to finalize his move from Brazilian side Fluminense.
Gremio winger Cebolinha bid a farewell to his current club during a recent interview and is set to arrive in Lisbon next week with reports that Benfica and Gremio have reached an agreement for the Lisbon side to acquire 85% of the players rights with Gremio retaining the remaining 15%. Benfica are also set to begin discussions with Flamengo over the acquistion of secondary striker Bruno Henrique next week and have held talks with Fluminense about 19 year old striker Marcos Paulo.
Since Jesus' arrival Benfica have been linked with a host of Brazilian league players that also include Flamengo's Gerson and Santos' Lucas Verissimo on top of the current players above. Jorge Jesus is looking to remold the squad as he prepares to compete for the Portuguese crown and in European competitions next season and it is an exciting time to be a Benfica fan.
The Portuguese Football Federation has released a date for next seasons Candindo Oliveira Super Cup between Benfica and FC Porto and the Cup game normally played to commence the new league year. The Federation has postponed the game until December 23 due to the current world COVID-19 pandemic that has caused havoc across leagues worldwide with scheduling. Benfica and FC Porto both agreed to postpon
e the game for a later date initially and at this time no venue has been disclosed that will host the cup game.
Fluminense right back Gilberto is set to become Benfica's first acquisition under the new Jorge Jesus era with the 27 year old prepared to travel to Lisbon to complete his medicals this week. According to reports out of Portugal an agreement has been made between the two clubs for a reported €3M with only the players contract left to formalize. Gilberto officially became a member of Fluminense in January after the club purchased 50% of his playing rights after he spent the past two seasons on loan from Fiorentina who own the remaining 50%. The Brazilian right back has appeared in 60 games for Fluminense across all competitions, scoring four goals while setting up five. The acquisition of Gilberto would add another experienced right back to the fold with current starter Andre Almeida still at the club.
