Turkish dealings bring Benfica a fortune, find out how much | OneFootball

Benfica has found Turkish football to be an important market for generating revenue and, in recent years, only Napoli have managed to profit more from player sales to Turkey than the Lisbon club. According to the Turkish publication, the Eagles have already earned €78.5 million from transfers to Turkish clubs. Gedson Fernandes, Orkun Kokçu, Kerem Akturkoglu, João Mário and Sidny Lopes Cabral are some of the players who help explain the high total Benfica has reached.

The amount could, however, have been even higher. During the last transfer window, Fenerbahçe reportedly tried to sign Vangelis Pavlidis and, according to Turkish journalist Yağız Sabuncuoğlu, the Greek forward even gave his approval to the move. The Greek player is said to have accepted the contract offer put forward by the Istanbul club, but Benfica were not convinced by the figures involved and refused to let the player leave. Fenerbahçe’s offer is said to have reached €40 million.

Dodi Lukebakio was also on the radar of a Turkish club. According to information reported by French newspaper L'Équipe, Beşiktaş entered into negotiations with Benficawith a view to signing the winger, in a deal that could have been worth around €20 million.

The talks, however, did not lead anywhere, and Lukebakio ultimately did not move to Turkey. Another Benfica player who attracted interest from Turkish football was Bruma. The winger was also linked with Beşiktaş, but ended up choosing another destination and moved to Greek football.

So, although the €78.5 million already represents a significant financial return for Benfica, the cases of Pavlidis and Lukebakio show that the Turkish market could have allowed the Eagles to increase even further the revenue earned from player departures in recent years.

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