Rúben Dias advised Benfica on Claudio Echeverri deal | OneFootball

Rúben Dias had an important role in Benfica's move for Claudio Echeverri, with the Manchester City defender consulted before the club advanced the deal.

According to A Bola, Benfica asked Dias about Echeverri's day-to-day commitment, training behaviour, integration into European football and the dressing room, and his technical attributes, especially whether he could meet Marco Silva's demands.

Benfica had monitored Echeverri for a long time, but the process accelerated in the final days of the summer window. Before agreeing terms with Manchester City, Benfica called the Portuguese centre-back, who spent more than 12 seasons with the club before moving to England.

Dias had worked with Echeverri for one season and a pre-season at City and provided significant assurances on the Argentine. Those insights strengthened Benfica's conviction that he could offer Marco Silva a different option in attack.

The coach wanted a third midfielder or second forward with greater creativity and explosiveness, distinct from Sudakov. Echeverri is now aiming to take on that role. The Argentine made his Benfica debut against Gil Vicente, coming on in the 72nd minute for Rafa.

Source: Glorioso 1904

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