Clubs start to pick up interest in Arthur Cabral

Benfica striker Arthur Cabral is becoming a wanted man as the 26 year old gathers interest from a variety of clubs in Europe and the Middle East. Cabral looks to be the odd man out since the arrival of striker Vangelis Pavlidis from AZ Alkmaar earlier in the transfer window, as the club has a trio of high priced strikers at their disposal, but manager Schmidt's system only calls for one to be used at a time.

Cabral arrived last summer from Fiorentina in a €20M deal in the hopes of replacing Goncalo Ramos, who departed for PSG but the Brazilian never seemed to be the right puzzle piece. Benfica have spent €56M in the past year on Cabral, Pavlidis and Marcos Leonardo but will need to move on from one of the trio and Cabral looks to be the odd man out.

Spanish club Espanyol has been in touch with Benfica in hopes of acquiring Cabral on loan for the season, along with Italian clubs Genoa and Monza. Saudi League club Neom FC has also gotten in touch with the Lisbon side in hopes of striking a deal for a move by Cabral this summer.

Cabral played 1,965 minutes for Benfica last season, appearing in 43 games across all competitions, scoring 11 goals while providing 3 helpers with only 19 of those games being starts. Benfica would prefer to sell the striker over sending him out on loan as they look to recuperate the money spent last summer to acquire Cabral.

 

Renato Sanches open to Benfica return

Renato Sanches very much wants a Benfica return, as rumours are high that the former Seixal academy product will head back to Lisbon from PSG. Sanches is said to have other options, but his preference is to return to his former club on loan for the 2024-25 season.

The potential loan would not cost Benfica a dollar, as PSG is open to paying all costs which would include paying all of Sanches' wages during the loan spell. PSG is currently in talks with Benfica for Joao Neves and looks to be sweetening the pot in hopes to lower Benfica's hefty price tag for the 19 year old.

Sanches was sold from Benfica in the summer of 2016 to Bayern Munich for €35M and has had a roller coaster of a career that has seen him go from highs, which include Ligue 1 team of the year, to lows that include, poor play and long stints injured, while making stops at various clubs that include Swansea, Lille and Roma.

Benfica sees Sanches' as an ideal replacement for Neves, if he is to depart the club and hopes that a return home can help revive the 26 year old's stalled career. Roger Schmidt is said to be onboard with the move for the midfielder who would add depth to the club if he can stay healthy.

 

Benfica bringing Angel di Maria back for another season

Benfica look to have agreed to a new deal with winger Angel di Maria to return to the Lisbon club for one more season after seeing his contract end on June 30th, according to a tweet by famed football journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The 36 year old seems to have looked at his available options and felt that Benfica is the best choice for himself and his family for at least one more season. Di Maria appeared in 48 games across all competitions, scoring 17 goals and setting up 15 assists in his return to Benfica.

Here is hoping that Roger Schmidt uses Di Maria a bit more efficiently than he did during the 2023-24 season, as the overuse of Di Maria did see the Argentinian look gassed at certain points towards the second half of the season. 

No information about the contract has yet to be released, but you would have to expect that Di Maria will sign a contract with a lower annual salary than the €9M+ that he was paid by the club in 2023-24. I can not say that I like the move but I can live with it if he is used better then he was last season by the manager.