Premier League clubs seem to be really interested in Benfica’s squad.
Only last night, eight English sides have attended the Eagles’ Champions League match against Dinamo Kiev, with Middlesbrough, Sunderland and West Brom included.
There are some interesting stories about these three clubs when it comes to Benfica. All of them were linked to Encarnados’ players this year.
Middlesbrough got very close on signing Victor Lindelof in January. It would have been a loan spell, but as another Benfica player got injured during the process, the deal was called off.
Lindelof has progressed since, and that’s why a loan wouldn’t happen now. He’d only leave for his €30m release clause these days.
During the summer, Sunderland were linked to Eduardo Salvio. The player was really keen on a Premier League move and suddenly Portuguese papers said the Black Cats would be ready to pay the €25m that Benfica asked. The transfer never happened and was quickly forgotten by the local media.
And in late August, The Sun said West Brom wanted to buy Lisandro Lopez for £4m. It was a laughable price for the Portuguese club, and that’s why A Bola had a response saying this amount was nowhere near enough.
The Baggies scouted a Benfica game two weeks later, showing there was certainly interest in someone. But their real target (or real budget) remains to be seen.
Lindelof and Salvio both had a good match, with the latter scoring the winning goal. Lisandro, however, didn’t come off the bench.
Portuguese newspaper A Bola published the full scouting list, with contained officials from Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus, Celtic, Bayer Leverkusen, Borussia Dortmund, Wolfsburg, Celta Vigo, Barcelona, Sevilla, Osasuna, Villarreal, Monaco, Montpellier and Sassuolo.
