Benfica acquired Morato in the summer of 2019 for €7.6M and the 22 year old has appeared in 83 games for the club across all competitions, scoring twice while providing two helpers since joining the club. Morato has garnered interest from clubs in Europe's bigger leagues but with the potential of Benfica moving current starter Antonio Silva in the summer. The Lisbon club would like to hang onto the left-footed defender, who would most likely slide into a starting role with the club.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Benfica working on purchasing all of Morato's pass
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Benfica look to have found Rafa replacement
Benfica manager Roger Schmidt tried to see what kind of versatility he could get from the 23 year-old during the season by playing him in a variety of positions, but other than a decent performance here and there, it was a continuous failed experiment.
It looks to have taken a Kokcu interview with a Dutch media outlet in March to change the mind of the German manager, an interview in which Kokcu stated his lack of playing time in his preferred attacking position had a lot to do with a string of poor performances this season.
With current XI starter Rafa Silva set to become a free agent at the end of the season, Benfica is finally getting what they paid for when they acquired Kokcu during the summer for a club record fee of €25M and they have hopefully found the heir apparent to Rafa going forward.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Heat turning up on Roger Schmidt as season winds down
Benfica's SAD is now in the process of holding meetings to discuss whether Schmidt is the right man to lead the squad into the 2024-25 season. According to reports out of Portugal, the sacking of Schmidt and his staff would prove to be costly to the club, with the figure said to be €22M over the next two seasons.
Benfica President Rui Costa now faces the most difficult decision of his term: keep or dismiss Schmidt. The majority of Benfica supporters are against the German continuing as the bench boss of the club. The way Schmidt has lost games, more so than the results of those games themselves, is what has irked supporters to the point of wanting the coach gone.
If Rui Costa goes against the grain and continues with Schmidt, he will then become the main target of supporters, a decision that could prove costly to his future as the President of the club. Benfica fans will look to get Costa's attention tomorrow with a planned protest on the ouster of Schmidt and hope that the President has all eyes on them.