Benfica continue to look at moves to strengthen their squad for next season and have made a bold approach to free agent central defender Jan Vertonghen. The 33 year old Belgian International spent the last eight seasons as a member of English side Tottenham, appearing in 315 games for the Spurs across all competitions while also being capped by Belgium on 118 occasions. Benfica are confident that they will sign the veteran defender with new manager Jorge Jesus pushing for a more competitive club in Portugal and Europe.
Vertonghen has not been a member of a club that has won a team trophy since he was with Ajax back in 2012 and is said to like what Benfica have presented him in terms of the deal which is said to be for three seasons and the chance to play Champions League football. Benfica are also currently negotiating with striker Edinson Cavani and landing both players would be a major coop for the Lisbon side who have already landed right back Gabriel, keeper Helton Leite and are set to announce the arrival of winger Cebolinha.
Benfica reps Rui Costa and Tiago Pinto are in Germany hoping to close a deal for 24 year old Freiburg striker Luca Waldschmidt. Benfica have been in talks for the left footed striker since the winter transfer window and with newly appointed manager Jorge Jesus giving the management side the green light in acquiring the youngster, the club hopes to have this deal sealed by the end of the current week. According to German daily Bild, Freiburg are said to want €12M to depart with the services of Waldschmidt who appeared in 24 games across all competitions for the German side this past season and scored seven goals while setting up three others. Benfica have also been linked heavily to Freiburg defender Robin Koch over the past few months but with Jesus' recent comments about wanting to add a more veteran presence to the back four, the trip to Freiburg will be for only one.
Newly appointed manager Jorge Jesus told the media that he expects the club to add as much as nine or ten reinforcements for the upcoming season in his quest to win the Portuguese League and be competitive in Europe once again. Benfica have added Boavista keeper Helton Leite and right back Gabriel to the squad over the weekend and have also extended the contract of winger Diogo Goncalves until 2025 after an impressive season on loan at Famalicao. Benfica acquired winger Pedrinho during the winter transfer window and expects winger Cebolinha to join the club early this week, bringing the total of new faces to five.
Jesus also stated that he is looking to shore up the back line which could see the squad add at least two more players into those defensive spots and is focused on the new arrivals being veterans. Jesus is also looking for a potential big striker up front and has his eyes set on Edinson Cavani with reports over the weekend from Italy saying that the deal is done but yet to be announced. Look for Jesus to also add a playmaker to his midfield as he looks to remake the current mold of the squad. The bad news for current club players is that many may have played their last game for the club and will depart either on loan or sold off completely before the start of next season.
