During the past month, Leicester City have been frequently linked to the Benfica right-back André Almeida, with reports saying the Foxes have already started contacts in order to sign the player in the January transfer market.
Earlier this week, newspaper O Jogo even claimed that the Leicester midfielder Adrien Silva has recommended the signing, even though he used to play for Benfica’s local rivals Sporting. He’d have told the Foxes that Almeida would fit the squad well and should be worth the investment.
As Almeida signed a contract extension in August, and has been an important player for the Eagles, there wasn’t a reason to believe that he would be cheap for Leicester. First because he has a €30m release clause, then because it’s the January market, and also because well, it’s Benfica who are selling.
But it turns out that Leicester can snap him up for only half of the clause, at least according to what O Jogo reports today. And that would still be the worst scenario on the table.
The newspaper writes that when Almeida agreed the new deal in August, Benfica promised him that he could leave for only €10m, as the club were already aware of his wish to move to a better league.
Problem is that the Eagles don’t have another right-back at the moment, as they don’t trust the Barcelona loanee Douglas, who’s still fighting to continue his spell in Lisbon. That’s why Benfica want to guarantee another signing first, and for now, they demand €15m from Leicester City, as with a few million more they would find themselves in a better scenario to find a replacement in the transfer market.
So in order to get him for the lower price, the Foxes would have to wait for Benfica to find another player first, something that doesn’t look very close, as O Jogo doesn’t mention any names.
