Alert! Few minutes 'at Seixal' spark concern at Benfica | OneFootball

With the conclusion of the 2025/26 season, one particularly revealing figure stood out at Benfica: the use of players developed at Seixal fell to one of the lowest levels of the past decade. Although Bruno Lage and José Mourinho used 16 academy players over the course of the season, the actual importance of these players in the first-team selection was limited.

The numbers show that footballers coming through Benfica’s academy accounted for just 13.4% of the team’s total minutes across the 55 official matches played during the campaign. A figure that contrasts with the more consistent reliance seen in recent seasons.

Among the academy players, only António Silva and Tomás Araújo managed to establish themselves as regulars. The two centre-backs clearly topped the list for accumulated minutes, and were the only Seixal graduates to take on a truly undisputed role throughout the season.

Samuel Soares came next, but a long way behind the two defenders. The goalkeeper did not exceed 495 minutes played, underlining the lack of opportunities given to the academy’s other young players. Half of the 16 players used did not even reach 70 minutes of competitive action.

Using the previous four years as a reference, several academy talents regularly managed to surpass the 1,000-minute mark per season, including António Silva, Tomás Araújo, Florentino Luís, João Neves, Morato and Gonçalo Ramos, among other names who earned a prominent role in the first team.

At the same time, the prolonged stay of Seixal players in the senior squad remains an exception. Between multi-million sales and fluctuations in form, few have managed to stay at the Luz for several consecutive seasons. Morato stands out with five straight seasons, while António Silva, Samuel Soares, Gonçalo Ramos and Rúben Dias completed four-year spells.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.