João Palhinha’s first Benfica session greeted with smiles, praise and reunions | OneFootball

João Palhinha’s first training session as a Benfica player featured smiles, compliments and several reunions, with team-mates welcoming the 31-year-old Portuguese international.

According to Glorioso 1904, captain Fredrik Aursnes was among the first to greet him, suggesting the moment had been a long time coming.

During the workout, Palhinha mixed with his new colleagues and looked pleased with what he found. In Spanish, he told Gianluca Prestianni he was flying and to keep going.

Prestianni has been one of Benfica’s early standouts this season. Vangelis Pavlidis is also in form, already on 10 goals in 2026/27, and Palhinha praised him as a fine finisher while urging him not to stop.

The day also brought reunions with Tomás Araújo and Rafa Silva, former national-team colleagues, and with Clément Lenglet.

Lenglet, who played for Tottenham then Aston Villa and faced Palhinha many times, said he was delighted to see him arrive, and Palhinha replied they were now side by side at Benfica.

Source: Glorioso 1904

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”