At Last.... Aimar

#PHOTOs -Francisco Leong AFP/Getty

Benfica officially introduced Pablo Aimar today.

According to the values reported to the CMVM (Portuguese Stock Exchange Authority) Aimar cost Benfica 6.5million euros and has signed a contract valid for 4 years with a rescission clause of 20 million.

Also involved in the deal was Fabio Coentrao, who didn’t even have time to smell the tulips.
As you may recall, Benfica had sent Coentrao to Feyenoord on loan for this upcoming season just a few days ago, but the young winger got a different set of orders last night, as he was about to sign the loan contract with Feyenoord.
There’s no word yet, on whether he will be going on loan to Zaragoza, or if he will be a Zaragoza player, but I have to believe he will be a Zaragoza player, being that the values first talked about for Aimar were in the high 7s. In the post right below this one, I alerted to the possibility that a player(s) might be thrown into the Aimar deal, to make the deal stronger, and I guess that is what happened.

After completing the customary, medical exams today(his second one this week) Aimar will join his new teammates on the practice field on Friday.

Pablo Aimar has the qualities to become the best Benfica acquisition (with the exception of Rui Costa) of the past 10 years. Let’s hope he can remain injury free and can be consistent. I wish him nothing but the best, Welcome.

I can't help but to give praise to Rui Costa, who, despite still being a rookie at his new functions, was instrumental in Aimar's signing. He will make mistakes, and he will learn from them, but one thing is for sure, Rui Costa wants the best for Benfica. In a list of the biggest Benfiquistas of all time, Rui Costa would figure in the top 10. Let's give him time, the benefit of the doubt and the same support we have given him over the years.

From the practice field…

Both Fellipe Bastos and Nelson, who had been absent from the practice field yesterday, returned today at full strength. Nelson complained of muscular pain in his thigh, while Fellipe Bastos stayed in the gym to nurse a sprained ankle. Most of the “internationals” should be reporting to camp as early as Friday, with the last arrival being Cardozo, who has been authorized by the club to report on Monday.

Returning should be, Luisao, Marc Zoro, Katsouranis, Petit, Nuno Gomes, Maxi(arrived in Lisbon today), Mantorras, Freddy Adu and Jorge Ribeiro, who will most likely be introduced as a Benfica player between today and Monday.

That is the list of returning players, the biggest question mark falls on Freddy Adu, who is part of the USMNT Olympic team, I haven’t seen an official training camp schedule issued by the USSF yet, but from what I understand, the team will be entering camp this coming week in California,(Stanford U), then flying out to Hong Kong on Friday(7/25) where they will play 2 tuners(Cameroon and Ivory Coast Olympic squads) before they open the tornament agains Japan August 7th.

Little is known as to where Freddy will end up this season, with the transfer window closing up on August 31st, Benfica will have plenty of time to make a decision based on their needs. As it stands right now, the front line is loaded, the middle of the park is loaded, but the left wing needs depth.