Man City player urged Echeverri to head to Benfica | OneFootball

Rúben Dias played an important role in Claudio Echeverri’s arrival at Benfica. The Portuguese international, currently at Manchester City, was contacted by Benfica officials before the Club definitively moved forward with the signing of the young Argentine, and the information provided by the former Eagles defender helped strengthen the conviction to complete the deal.

According to ‘A Bola’, Benfica sought to find out from the defender what Echeverri was like on a daily basis, particularly in terms of professional commitment, behavior in training, and adaptation to European football and the dressing room. The Club also wanted to gather information about the player’s technical qualities and, above all, understand whether he could meet Marco Silva’s demands.

Echeverri had been monitored by the Eagles for quite some time, but the process picked up speed in the final days of the summer transfer window. Before moving forward with the agreement with Manchester City, Benfica then made a call to the Portuguese centre-back, who spent more than 12 seasons linked to the Club from Luz before moving to England.

Rúben Dias had worked with Echeverri for one season and one pre-season at City and ultimately provided important assurances about the Argentine. The information gathered helped Benfica conclude that the youngster could offer Marco Silva a different solution in attack.

The coach wanted a third midfielder or a more creative and explosive second striker, with characteristics different from Sudakov’s. Echeverri is now looking to take on that role. The Argentine made his Benfica debut against Gil Vicente, coming on in the 72nd minute in place of Rafa.

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