Harry Wilson is off Benfica's agenda | OneFootball

Benfica are in a real race against time to prepare for the new season. With pre-season set to begin on 25 June, Rui Costa and Mário Branco have stepped up contacts in the market, with the aim of delivering reinforcements to Marco Silva as quickly as possible. With the possibility of Harry Wilson moving to the Luz now off the table, the Eagles are already looking for alternatives.

The club’s hierarchy sees it as essential to give the new coach a solid working base from his very first days at Seixal. The idea is to allow Marco Silva to focus on assessing the squad and implementing his ideas without major disruptions.

The main priority has been identified for several weeks: central defence - something mentioned by Paulo Madeira. Benfica want to sign two centre-backs with different characteristics. One of them should be left-footed, while the other must be versatile enough to play on both sides of central defence, regardless of his stronger foot.

But the board’s plans do not stop there. Benfica are also looking to strengthen the attacking flanks. Although Harry Wilson is no longer an option, the desired profile is similar to that of the Wales international: a winger capable of making the difference one-on-one, creating chances and adding quality to the attack.

Another important aspect of Benfica’s strategy is linked to the Club World Cup. The board led by Rui Costa has ruled out the possibility of signing players involved in the competition, prioritising footballers who are immediately available. At the same time, Marco Silva and the club’s hierarchy are also working on finalising the pre-season friendlies, in a decisive stage of preparing for a campaign that will begin early: on 23 July, with the second qualifying round of the Europa League.

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