Joao Mario named league player of the month

Benfica midfielder Joao Mario was named the Portuguese League Player of the month for December/January beating out Gil Vicente striker Fran and Porto's Galeno along with Arouca's Dabbagh. Joao Mario's form has been superb this season under the guidance of manager Roger Schmidt and the midfielder is being recognized for a terrific season to date. Joao Mario scored four league goals over the span of six league games in 486 minutes of action with a player rating of 7.30 to capture the award.

Benfica set to start talks for new left back

With contract talks with current starting left back Alex Grimaldo not moving forward, Benfica are already looking at options to replace the 27 year old Spaniard who is set to become a free agent at the end of this current season and are ready to begin talks with Brazilian club Atletico Mineiro for Guilherme Arana.

The 25 year old suffered a left cruciate ligament injury in September costing him a chance to represent Brazil in World Cup 2022, with no timeline yet to on his potential return, Arana could yet miss at least the first few months of the Brazilian league season. Benfica are hoping that acquiring the left back while his value is low will pay off dividends for the club in the future.

Arana would be looking to make amends after his first failed trip to Europe in which he joined Sevilla in January 2018 but appeared in only twenty-five games across all competitions for the Spanish club, spending most of his time away on loan. Arana returned permanently to Brazil in the summer of 2021 making his loan at Mineiro permanent after spending 18 months with the club.

Enzo pays tribute to Benfica during interview

It took almost two weeks but former Benfica midfielder Enzo Fernandez paid tribute to his former club during a post game interview with English channel BT Sport. Enzo thanked Benfica for giving him the opportunity to make the move to European football and that he would always be grateful to everyone at the club, saying his experience was beautiful and that he learned a lot while there.

Benfica sold Enzo to Chelsea on deadline day for a Premier League record of €121M just six months after acquiring the midfielder from River Plate for €10M with an additional €8m in add ons. Enzo went on to win a rare winter edition of the World Cup in December with Argentina, being named the young player of the tournament which only added to his value and eventually clinching his move to Chelsea.