José Manuel Freitas says Rui Costa treated António Silva badly | OneFootball

António Silva’s future continues to be a major talking point. In addition to his imminent departure from Benfica, commentator José Manuel Freitas also analyzed the Portuguese international’s current sporting situation, as he has been the target of heavy criticism in recent weeks.

The journalist felt that Rui Costa’s promise to hand the captain’s armband to the Portuguese international ultimately failed to produce the desired effect: "The fact that they gave him the captain’s armband was a kind of poisoned little gift: 'Here you go, captain, we’re counting on you to stay here'. That no longer convinces him," he said on the Now channel.

The comments come at a time when António Silva is still pushing to leave Benfica, after refusing to renew his contract with the Eagles, while keeping a move to the Premier League as his priority. The defender’s performances have sparked debate, mainly because of some positional mistakes and less aggression in one-on-one duels, aspects that were once again evident in the defeat against Flamengo.

Gonçalo Monteiro also looked at the process that could lead the centre-back to leave the Luz, at a time when the player wants to take on a new challenge abroad, with the most likely destination being Premier League side Bournemouth.

The commentator said he was surprised by António Silva’s decision, recalling the proposal put forward by the board led by Rui Costa in an attempt to secure the continuity of the number 4: "When you have Portugal’s biggest club making him an incredible offer from a salary point of view, when you have the club’s preference, when you have the coaching staff saying 'you have the armband', isn’t that enough?" he asked.

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