Mário Figueiredo praises Benfica and slams Sporting: they couldn't keep up | OneFootball

analyzed Benfica and Sporting’s race for João Palhinha and believes that the Lions ended up being overtaken by their rivals due to financial limitations. In the commentator’s view, the club from Alvalade realized it was not in a position to keep up with the Eagles.

"Sporting realized it didn’t have the legs for the Palhinha deal," he said on Now, explaining that Sporting’s wage ceiling ended up being decisive in leaving the way open for the Eagles. The midfielder is thus very close to returning to Portugal to represent the club from Luz.

In the journalist’s view, the signing also meets a sporting need for Benfica and fits in with Marco Silva’s wishes: "Rui Costa has to grant the coach’s wish" to prevent the manager, at the end of the season, from being able to point the finger at the board if the objectives are not achieved.

Mário Figueiredo also addressed the situation of Luis Suárez, considering that Rui Borges tried to play down an issue which, in his opinion, required greater seriousness.

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