Suazo on the Way

Italy's Gazzeta dello Sport is reporting that Rui Costa was in Italy today finalizing the David Suazo loan deal. Suazo should travel to Lisbon tomorrow to go through the necessary physicals, before putting pen on paper. More details should be available soon.
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Sidnei on the Way to Benfica

Sidnei is the next Benfica signing, according to "A Bola". A 19 year old center back ailing from Porto Alegre's Internacional. Sidnei is set to sign a 5 year contract contract valid until June 2013, the Portuguese Daily also reports.

I don't know much about Sidnei, but from what I have read, Sidnei is a young budding talent who was on the radar for many European giants.

What pleases me most about this acquisition, if it's confirmed, is the fact that up until now there wasn't much talk about Sidnei, and that is the way acquisitions should be done, despite sometimes no being that easy.
With Sidnei's arrival we can be certain that Zoro is on his way out, and barring a Katsouranis exit, Edcarlos might also be at risk.

As i posted yesterday, the squad was reduced by six players today, Andre Carvalhas(Rio Ave), Miguel Rosa(Estoril), Ruben Lima(D Aves), Romeu Ribeiro(D Aves)were all on their way to their new destinies, as well as the juniors Abel Pereira and Joao Pereira who will be with the Junior team.

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Another Young Talent

Ivan Santos, former Boavista winger, has agreed to a deal with Benfica for 3 years. Santos, 19, rescinded his contract with Boavista and was lured to Estadio da Luz by Benfica.
Ivan Santos has been a fixture in the Portuguese "U" national teams. He had 9 appearances for Boavista last year in the Bwin, and clocked in another 10 in the Liga Intercalar.
Considering the amount of players Benfica has between the ages of 18 and 20, i'd say a nice foundation is being set, and the future looks bright.

DiMaria, Adu, Carvalhas, Fellipe Bastos, Urreta, Romeu Ribeiro, Miguel Rosa, Miguel Vitor are all players that fall in between the ages of 18 and 20.

Santos should be going on loan to another Liga Sagres team, in order to log the minutes he requires to progress and mature.
Santos will put black on white after the prerequisite physical on Monday.

Welcome and Best of Luck

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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.

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Aimar in Red

According to all 3 major Portuguese futebol dailies, Aimar, Benfica and Zaragoza, have reached an agreement for the Argentine to wear the sacred mantle next season.
Details are not yet available, but there were reports that Newcastle had made an offer for Aimar, that was around the 8.8mm, little is known about what Benfica did to lock up the deal.

As I write this, there's no official announcements by both clubs on their official sites. But according to media reports, Aimar will be introduced tomorrow.
Benfica will need to comunicate Aimar's acquisition to the Portuguese stock market authorities, only then will we have more precise information about the deal, which wouldn't surprise me if it involved player(s). According to reports, Rui Costa was authorized to up Benfica's offer to 8.5mm by the SAD, in order to lock up the deal.

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Fish and House Guests.....

............Stink after 3 days!
This is the way i feel about this whole Aimar soap opera.
Putting aside what we have read in the media, who have been scripting the story for a good 2 weeks, why hasn't Benfica been able to close this player?
Regardless whether i am privy, or know, all that goes into acquiring a player, I think this story has dragged out long enough, and is beginning to smell.
Word today is that Rui Costa traveled to Spain because he feels something has gotten in the middle of the negotiation process.
Come on already.

I really hate to make comparisons, but our rivals close on players way before the media has a chance to find out all of the details. How do they do it? No one really knows, the truth is that the names connected to Benfica, have by far dwarfed any names connected with porto or Sporting, despite the latter one not being in the best conditions to acquire many players. I understand that speculation and "buckshot" is all part of the silly season, and even that Benfica news sells papers, but how do we leak so much information? And if we're not leaking, how do we allow the media to place 4-5 players a week in our "interested" list? Refuting some while maintaining silence about others. This silence, taking into consideration that we deny some, can, and is construed has a type of admission.

I don't quite understand how Benfica's media relations department works, and what their M.O. is in regards to the media, but i think it's time for Benfica to regain control of what is being put out there.


Let's close Aimar, and close the squad. The squad should be completely closed by August 1st.

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Fabio Coentrao on the way to Eredivise

Fabio Coentrao is this season's first cut. Having started the week with Benfica, Fabio Coentrao was not in Saturday's training session, an absence Benfica justified as "taking care of personal business". This morning Fabio Coentrao was once again absent, but the story was way different. Despite no official confirmation from Benfica, today's "A Bola" reports that Coentrao is on his way to Feyenoord to play in the Eredivise. Feyenoord will have the option of buying Coentrao for 5mm Euros at the end of the loan period(end of this season), this was the value stipulated by Benfica, who will also be free of the winger's wages for the year.

Coentrao was never able to impress Camacho last year and went on loan to Nacional mid-season last season. His high point of the season was when he scored 2 goals against porto at the dragao, wearing the stripes of Nacional. The 20 year old had high hopes for this year, hoping to make the Benfica squad, as a result of his good outings at Nacional, but apparently could not convince Quique.

Today's training session already counted with Urreta, who made his Benfica debut, and showed interesting qualities, according to the club's site.
DiMaria did not participate in today's training session, as he will be joining Argentina's Olympic squad this coming week.

The squad will enjoy the customary day off tomorrow. On Tuesday, we should see Aissa, as well of a lot of the internationals coming back.
No word on whether Adu will be one of the returning internationals. Being that DiMaria has already left to join Argentina, I'm thinking that the US's olympic camp should be starting up soon.

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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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Ruben Amorim Introduced

The first signing of the season, was finally introduced today.
23 year old midfielder Ruben Amorim, was acquired from Belenenses and returns to Benfica after leaving the club during his formation.
Amorim who represented Portugal's u-21 squad, had 30 appearances for Belenenses last season, and was one of their most consistent players. He can play right mid, right back or interior mid.

ZeroZero.pt Ruben Amorim Stats from 08/09

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Urretaviscaya - Mr Urreta to You!

Although it has yet to be confirmed by Benfica, every Portuguese sporting news medium is reporting that 18 year old Jonathan Urretaviscaya has reached an agreement with Benfica to wear the sacred mantle for the next 5 seasons. The Uruguayan forward stood out in the last Uruaguayan Clausura scoring 9 goals in 15 matches.

Also according to those reports Urreta was offered to porto and braga and both clubs declined. Last year the youngster was in England trying out for Tottenham, but a labor issue prevented him from staying.

Meanwhile, both Micolli's and Aimar's acquisitions seem to be taking step backwards.
Palermo's president, has stated that the "little bombardeer" is not going anywhere. The start of the negotiations for Micolli has already cost one of Palermo's sporting directors his job.

On the Aimar front, there are several clubs interested in his services, and willing to pay more than what Zaragoza and Benfica have been haggling about, namely Everton.

If you ask me, you can say goodbye to both of those players. We still need good reputable players for those 2 positions. In my opinion, Benfica could close up shop after those two acquisitions, a "10" and a forward, would bring a nice balance to the squad. In the event that Benfica can't close on those 2 needs, both Martins and Urreta can hopefully be solutions.

With Spanish clubs still on vacation, Benfica will have to wait a little longer to see what names will be on the transfer lists from La Liga. Soldado has been a target for a while, it wouldn't surprise me if he takes center stage after Aimar goes away. Lets also not forget the 2 player option we have from the Atletico Madrid ranks, which was part of the Simao deal. Is it possible that even with slim pickins, we can't get anyone better than Maxi?

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Carlos Martins Signs

Carlos Martins will be introduced on Tuesday as Benfica's 4th signing for the 08/09 season.
Martins who was first "coupled" with Pongolle in a deal with Recreativo Huelva, will finally put black on white after the French forward chose to remain in Spain.

Carlos Martins cost Benfica 3m euros and signed a 5 year contract. The move sees Martins return to Portugal after a career rebirth at Huelva this past year, which was rewarded with a national team call up, but would be left off the Euro squad.
He was a product of Sporting's Academy and spent 8 years with Sporting, two of which were on loan.

Sporting who owns 40% of the player's pass, had first dibs on a re-buy but opted not to, it is publicly known that Martins had his problems with Paulo Bento, citing that his relationship with Bento was the worst it could have been.

There is no question that Carlos Martins is talented, but his inconsistent injured ridden seasons with Sporting, really leaves me apprehensive about his worth. At 26, Martins is entering his prime, and I'm hoping that his injury proneness was left back in Alvalade.

Martins can play both, the "box to box" position and the "playmaker" position, and both Quique and Rui Costa have a great admiration for his talent. Let's hope he can bring all Benfiquistas the same joys that Simao brought, when he returned from barcelona after leaving Sporting.



I had originally posted here about Martins' possible signing, and while i have nothing against the player himself, i feel that by signing Martins, Benfica will have found a substitute for Rui Costa the cheap way, and everyone knows that a "10" can't come that cheap, at least for Benfica.
I remain behind Rui Costa, and his decisions, he knows better than anyone else what Benfica's financial situation is and how far he can stretch it. So far he has been on target with his signings.

Aimar continues to be on the line, and apparently only 1m euros separate Benfica Zaragoza from reeling him in. Let's hope that Benfica can secure the Argentine, who also has a extensive injury record, but would be a more appropriate 10, in my opinion.


This morning, way before Benfica announced Carlos Martins, i read on O Antitripa the following:

1- Carlos Martins e Jonás Gutierrez na Luz.
2- Quaresma e burro alves no Inter de Milão, Lucho na Juventus.
3- Pelé, infelizmente Fabrizzio Miccoli e Pablo Aimar no fóculporto.

So far we got 1/2 of #1, let's see how the other 2 1/2 come out, but it wouldn't surprise me one bit.

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Javier Balboa Until 2012

Portuguese media reports that, Real Madrid's "Cantera" product Javier Balboa, is in Lisbon to finalize an agreement with Benfica.
The 23 year old winger can play both on the left or the right and would be the midfield piece Benfica has been missing on the right side.

Balboa reached Real's first team in 07/08 when he was part of Real's pre-season squad, he was then put on the loan list by Fabio Capello, and played the rest of the year at Racing Santander on a loan. After his loan expired Balboa was part of Schuster's 07/08 squad and was even praised by Schuster, which earned him a contract extension until 2011. Last season Javier Balboa had 7 appearances for the Spanish giants netting 1 goal in the process.

Balboa was born in Madrid to Equatorial Guinean(former Spanish colony) parents, and has chosen to play for his parent's nation instead of Spain.


**EDIT**

Balboa was officially introduced tonight at Estadio da Luz. Javier Balboa cost Benfica 4 million euros and signed a contract valid for 4 years, with a 20 million euros rescision clause.
Balboa is Benfica's 3rd signing for the 08/09 season.

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Back to the 2 for 1

In the past 2 days, reports that Benfica are close to signing forward Sinama Pongole and midfielder Carlos Martins from Recreativo de Huelva have grown stronger and stronger. With the frequency of the rumors, and the details that have emerged, can only lead me to believe that there is a strong possibility that these reports might in fact be true.

According to the reports the whole deal is going to cost Benfica 10mm.
Pongole was on Quique's shortlist of wanted players as well as Martins, who Rui Costa has an admiration for.

If the deal does in fact take place, Pongole is an excellent acquisition. At this time, i can't say the same thing about Martins. Yes the former Sporting player has talent, and has been reborn in Spain, but while at Sporting he was a player that spent more time on the medical report than on the game report. Last year in Spain he played 32 matches(31 started) and tallied 2,476 minutes, something that contradicts his years at Sporting.

It's not his capabilities that make me disagree with his acquisition, it’s the fact that, with Carlos Martins, Benfica will have found Rui Costa’s substitute, the cheap way, perhaps the only way the club can afford to do it. While many wish for Buonanote, Valdivia, Escudero, Thiago Neves as worthy substitutes for Rui Costa, the truth is that Benfica might not be able to afford them. Hence Martins’ choice, who despite being talented, is very far from being comparable to any of the 4 mentioned above.

I could be wrong, but something tells me that Martins will be Benfica’s new # 10, if the deal does in fact take place. Everyone else will get chalked up as too expensive and out of reach.

One last thing to finish, there was a report that Genoa is interested on taking Freddy Adu on a loan. Not only am I opposed to Freddy Adu going on loan, no matter where, but I have a feeling that if he goes to Genoa on loan, We will never again see him wearing a Benfica jersey. I hope that Quique realizes what Freddy can bring the team and keeps him on the squad. After a year of being in Portugal, and getting over the adaptation period, it is time to see where Freddy is and what he can bring Benfica.
For those of you who follow Freddy, and have had the opportunity to see him in action with the USMNT, you can tell how much Freddy has matured in the past year, and if you haven’t been able to tell, USMNT coach, Bob Bradley has often spoken favorably about Freddy and his progress.

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Jorge Ribeiro Signs

Boavista's Jorge Ribeiro has apparently signed with Benfica for the next 4 years. Ribeiro whose career started in the formation squads of Benfica and reached the senior squad in the 99/00, returns to Benfica 7 years later.
Benfica let Ribeiro go after the 01/02 season, as the player was deemed not good enough to stay at the club.
Ribeiro is for many Benfica fans "persona non grata" as he made some negative comments about Benfica after leaving the club, and had a less than professional attitude when, after scoring against Benfica for Varzim(a few years back), ran along the sideline and directed some words at the Benfica bench. Since then, Jorge Ribeiro has been frowned upon by Benfica fans, much like his brother Maniche.

Ribeiro, who is 26, can play both, left back and defensive midfield, and there's already all kinds of speculation as to where the player will be utilized.
With Rui Costa putting the fans at ease about Leo's situation a few weeks back, with Jorge Ribeiro coming into the team, the speculations about Leo's exit are once again rampant. In Today's "A Bola", there's even an article pointing to the strong possibility of Binya going out on loan, which i think would be a terrible mistake.

For one thing, i have to praise Benfica's strategy on betting in the national market, as the players are already adapted to the Portuguese style and the domestic competition. On the other hand, i hope that the new season does not follow the same lines as the current one, when Benfica signed a record number of players, which ended up cut, or on loan, as they proved to be talentless.

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Ruben Amorim Joins Benfica

Benfica's second acquisition for the 08/09 season is Ruben Amorim. The 23rd year old joins Benfica from Belenenses, after 7 years, as Amorim was part of Benfica's youth squads at the age of 16, but was cut by Benfica at the time. Ruben plays in the midfield, preferably in the right side, he has also played right back for Belenenses this season.
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Adu for Ronaldinho

In an effort to find a new number 10, Benfica and Barcelona have agreed to swap Freddy Adu for the out of favor Ronaldinho. As you may know, Ronaldinho is currently going through a very tough time in Barcelona, being excluded from first team practices, and having already hinted that he wouldn't be with the "blaugrana" next year.
With this move, Benfica would get a worthy substitute for Rui Costa and Barcelona would put together the most impressive future generation together, with the likes of Messi, Bojan, Giovanni and Freddy Adu.
Benfica will pay Barcelona 15mm for 75% of Ronaldinho's pass.

April Fools - it was good for a laugh, honestly I much rather have Freddy on our team, despite the little he has played.



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