Newcastle beat Benfica, set to seal marquee £30m signing | OneFootball

Benfica are set to definitively cross Lukas Hornícek’s name off their list of potential goalkeeping reinforcements. The Sporting Braga goalkeeper is very close to joining Newcastle, in a deal that could earn the Arsenalistas the €30 million release clause.

According to As, the English club are willing to pay the full clause, a condition set by the Minho side to release the Czech international.

Despite the possibility of a transfer, Hornícek still took part in training led by Carlos Vicens on Wednesday and was called up for the second leg of the second qualifying round of the Conference League against Zeleznicar Pancevo.

If the move to the Premier League is made official in the coming hours, Bernardo Fontes is expected to take over as Sporting Braga’s starting goalkeeper for that European match, after they won the first leg 1-0 in Croatia.

Given this scenario, Benfica have now definitively pulled out of the race for the 24-year-old goalkeeper and remain focused on other targets to strengthen Marco Silva’s squad in this summer transfer window. With Newcastle leading the negotiations, everything points to Hornicek’s future being in English football.

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