Manchester United just can’t spend a week without being linked to a Benfica player. This a fact, and we should accept it.
A couple of days after announcing the signing of Victor Lindelof, the Red Devils are back on the Eagles’ pages in Portuguese newspapers, this time mentioned in a chase for Nelson Semedo.
Although this rumour is quite old, it was Jornal de Notícias who pushed it again on Monday, and today, Record comes with the same story. Benfica want €50m for the player, and Manchester United are one of the main candidates.
Record says there’s a ‘strong desire’ to bring the right-back to Old Trafford and the saga should ‘have some developments in the next few days’. Just like Victor Lindelof’s transfer, this one should also be mediated by the agent Jorge Mendes.
Benfica’s idea is to make €200m with sales in 2017. They have €120m so far, after the transfers of Gonçalo Guedes, Helder Costa, Ederson and Lindelof.
Although Jornal de Notícias put Barcelona in front of Manchester United in the race for Semedo, Record does the opposite, especially because the Catalan side would only have €30m to pay for the player.
Semedo has been linked to Man United for over a year now. Maybe the club’s fans will start reacting differently to the Portuguese press after Lindelof was signed, but we still find it unlikely that Mourinho will spend €50m on a player whose position is well filled.
But Benfica always end up selling for less than the local papers report, so who knows.
