Rui Costa ‘to cap’ Benfica spending on António Silva replacement at €15m | OneFootball

Benfica have made recruiting a centre-back their top priority after António Silva’s exit, and are pushing to complete a deal swiftly.

Record reports that the club aim to unveil the signing in the coming days, ideally by early next week. Rui Costa is said not to want to spend more than €15m.

Marco Silva currently has three centre-backs available, including Gabriel Índio, the 18-year-old who joined this summer. The hierarchy want to add depth, mindful that Tomás Araújo or Clément Lenglet could suffer a fitness setback.

Stepán Chaloupek was among the options, but the Czech defender prefers a move to the Premier League, where he has suitors. Davidson Sánchez, Josip Sutalo, Tiago Gabriel and Ibrahima Ba have also been linked, with no major progress.

Benfica host Hearts on Thursday, six August, in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round at Estádio da Luz, kick-off 20:00.

Source: Glorioso 1904