In the summer window, Aston Villa allowed Enzo Barrenechea to join Benfica on loan with a mandatory purchase obligation if certain set conditions are met.
The Primeira Liga club have confirmed Aston Villa will receive €3m in loan fee and €12m if they make his stay permanent. Benfica haven’t explained the conditions that needs to be fulfilled for them to buy him.
The Aston Villa owned player completed the loan move in July and has featured regularly for the Eagles so far. Last month, he said it’s a “conversation for later” when asked about his future at Benfica beyond this season.
O Jogo now report the 24-year-old is ‘already halfway to becoming a permanent Benfica player’.
It’s claimed Bruno Lage’s side will have to make the Argentina’s stay permanent when he makes 15 appearances for them.
The Aston Villa man has played 634 minutes from eight games in all competitions so far and has started in each of this fixture. If O Jogo’s report is to be believed, this is half of the games needed for Benfica to buy him.
O Jogo claim Benfica are already planning to buy him for €12m and are accounting the €15m deal for the 2025/26 season. Aston Villa receive 30% of the profit from his future sale.
Another Portuguese newspaper, Correio da Manhã, also report the South American will have to play 15 games for Benfica to exercise the €12m clause to buy him.
