Everton could be one of the suitors for Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis this summer, having ‘got closer’ to the player in the January transfer window.
That’s according to Ataque, the weekend supplement for Jornal de Noticias, who cover the player’s future today.
The newspaper explains that Luis has a contract with Benfica until 2027 but according to their information, he is tempted to consider a new career path at the end of the season.
That’s because he’s not been a part of Roger Schmidt’s plans this season, with Orkun Kocku and Joao Neves his first-choice midfielders.
That’s left him less than happy as he wants to be a starter in the team and so he is looking around and assessing his potential options for next season, particularly with Leandro Barreiro set to arrive in the summer and add more competition.
That never came to anything, but various reports have made it clear they’re keeping an eye on him, and they had a scout in attendance at Benfica earlier this month, when Luis put on something of a show too.
JN, for their part, say that Everton ‘got closer’ than other potential suitors in the January transfer window but nothing more than that.
They offer no potential valuation on the midfielder, other than explaining last summer Benfica asked for €40m as he has a €120m release clause in his current contract.
It seems unlikely that figure remains given he’s not featured as much this season, and it would certainly be out of Everton’s reach if it did.
Those details will presumably be made more clear in the coming months, but he’s a name to keep an eye on, particularly for Everton if they sell Amadou Onana as expected.
