Benfica and Olympiakos are work on hammering out an agreement that would see the return of Ruben Semedo to Portugal, this time playing for his former clubs arch rivals in Lisbon. Benfica are pressing to acquire the defender for the least amount possible due to the fact that Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest are owned by the same person and the club is awaiting the final installment from their sale of Joao Carvalho to Nottingham Forest a couple of years back and are entitled to 50% of the proceeds of any Olympiakos agreement with Guimaraes for midfielder Pepe Rodrigues who's agent is currently in Greece.
Benfica could end up paying almost nothing to acquire Semedo due to the amounts owed to the club as Jorge Jesus presses to have the deal finalized quickly. The newest questions that could arise with the acquisition of Semedo is if Ruben Dias will depart the club but Jesus is known for his love of central defenders and this may not be the case. The 26 year old Semedo joined Olympiakos in the summer 2019 from Villarreal for €4.5M and appeared in 44 games across all competitions for the Greek champions scoring five goals, it is said Olympiakos are looking for €10M to depart with Semedo.
Benfica continue to look at strengthening their current squad and have turned their attention to Jorge Jesus' former club Flamengo presenting an offer of €30M for the duo of Bruno Henrique and Gerson. Flamengo have not made any formal reply to the offer but behind closed doors it is said that they feel that the initial offer is low for the pair. Gerson was one of the main pillars behind Flamengo's historic run with Jesus and the Benfica manager feels that the 23 year old midfielder could shine with the Lisbon side.
Striker Bruno Henrique also had a fantastic season for Flamengo with Jesus at the helm and the Benfica manager is never short of praise for the 29 year old who was named both the Libertadores and Brazilian Serie A player of the year. The landing of the Flamengo duo would be a major scoop for both club and players, pushing the strength of the club to a higher level as they look for a return to winning not only at home but in Europe.
Benfica will announce their record breaking signing tomorrow in Lisbon when they unveil striker Darwin Nunez at a press conference in the afternoon. The 21 year old Uruguayan is joining the club from Almeria after the two clubs finally agreed to a reported €25M exchange setting a new all time high purchase for Benfica, surpassing their move for Raul Jimenez from Atletico Madrid in 2015 for €22M.
Benfica manager Jorge Jesus led the charge for the players acquisition which saw the clubs pursuit end when Rui Costa flew to Spain to seal the deal earlier this week. Nunez scored an impressive 16 goals in 30 La Liga2 appearances, finishing fourth in league scoring leading to interest from many European sides. Benfica are expected to sign the striker to a contract for five seasons with a monster €150M buy out clause once they finalize payment plan with Almeria.
