It seems that Alex Grimaldo’s departure from Benfica is already being taken as a reality in Portugal.
The club have now signed the Brazilian left-back Marcelo Hermes on a free transfer from Grêmio, and the newspaper A Bola are reporting it by saying he’s Grimaldo’s successor.
They claim that given Pep Guardiola’s strong interest in the player, Grimaldo should be off by the end of the season, with Manchester City the assumed destination.
We aren’t buying this. Grimaldo is currently one of Benfica’s most important players, who has already proven himself in a decent level.
Hermes, on the other hand, hasn’t played a single match since June, when he started to negotiate his new contract with Grêmio. He’s asked for a lot more money, they didn’t accept it, and now he’s leaving for free. The player was never a superstar in Brazil and should be arriving to the Portuguese side as a signing for the squad.
And that’s it, Benfica making a back-up signing, nothing more than that. We all know that due to Grimaldo’s €60m release clause, things will be hard for Manchester City to negotiate. So this transfer is still far from being certain. Even because apart from Guardiola’s reported interest, no contact or bids have been concretely reported so far.
