2 for Fighting

Arriving in Lisbon on Saturday and headed for Seixal were 2 players, Urretavizcaya and Hadja-Aissa.
Urreta who ails from Uruguay, has apparently signed a contract with Benfica for the next 5 seasons. Hadja-Aissa, has not yet signed a contract, and will enter Benfica's training camp in hopes of convincing Quique and ultimately Benfica, to sign him.

Jonathan UrretaVizcaya is an 18 year old forward, who scored 9 goals in 15 matches played of the Uruguayan Clausura. He is a young player that was called up to the senior team and made an impact, he is also a member of the Uruguayan U-20 squad. Not much else is known about this player, with the exception that at one point or another both porto and Braga had some kind of a contact with his representatives.
He comes into a sector of the field where there's already a lot of players competing for 2 spots. Certainly Quique will be looking closely at Urreta and see if he complements the 2 forwards he will start up front, or brings a certain dynamic that will provide depth balance to the forward sector. If he does not impress Quique, it's very probable that he will end up playing somewhere else in the Liga Sagres(new sponsor and league namer).

As for Hadj Aissa, he comes from Algeria and is a 24 year old offensive midfielder, who is the owner of the number 10 jersey, of Argelian club Es Setif. He is part of the Argelian national squad and has been nicknamed "Baggio", for similar styles of hair and playing. He was named the 2007 Arab Champions League MVP, and was considered the best young player of the Algerian league in 06. He has been linked to moves to Europe before, but this will be his first experience outside of Algeria. Certainly recommended by Eurico Gomes, who had previously pointed out Binya to Benfica.
Es Setife reports on their website that Benfica has bought Hadj Aissa for 400k euros, but word from the Portuguese media, is that he came on a trial period. Certainly that would be the amount Benfica would pay for the Arab Baggio, if he shows enough talent.

So, two for fighting for a spot on the 25 Quique has announced he will carry.
On the 18th of July Benfica will have all of the players at camp.
Let's hope that these two players can both be good enough to make the squad, on one side, the 18 year old still has a natural margin of progression,making him a prospect. On the other side, if Aissa's acquisition is dependent on his talent, then there's no loss, if he in fact does not impress Quique.

Wish them both the best.



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