Rui Duarte's surprise on Benfica defender: off to Napoli? | OneFootball

The arrival of Gabriel Índio at Benfica continues to generate excitement, and Rui Duarte, the coach who closely followed the young defender’s development at Athletic, has no doubts that the Eagles secured one of the most sought-after talents of the new Brazilian generation. The Portuguese coach admitted he was caught by surprise by Benfica’s entry into the race for the player, since he believed the centre-back’s future would be in Italy.

"I was also surprised, because I knew he was close to Napoli. Ever since the Minas Gerais championship, that was the information we had. I really thought he would be headed to Napoli," he revealed in an interview with Record newspaper.

Rui Duarte also explained that Gabriel Índio had been attracting attention long before Benfica’s interest emerged. "We had many approaches from major clubs in Europe and from teams in the 'big five' that knew him very well. I know scouts from big teams, and they would all ask me: 'So, what about Índio?'. That clearly shows he was on the radar of Europe’s top clubs," he said.

The 47-year-old coach also assured that it was not only European clubs that were following the young centre-back, including Abel Ferreira’s Palmeiras: "Palmeiras, Flamengo, Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro and others knew him well," he said.

Rui Duarte also highlighted Athletic’s key role in discovering and developing the player. "This is a product, a discovery of Athletic’s scouting department. At the time, the scouts and the academy director decided to bring him to the club," he said.

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