Pedro Sousa fears key man exit: Benfica forced into kamikaze move | OneFootball

Pedro Sousa considers Nicolás Otamendi’s stay at Benfica a “difficult decision”. Reinforcing that view, the commentator argues that “the situation depends on many things”, and that the Club “is obliged to carry out a ‘kamikaze’ operation”.

“Otamendi’s continuation at Benfica depends on many things. What he may have discussed with the River Plate coach matters little, and paradoxical as it may seem, the fact that he will no longer be in the national team from June onwards harms the chances of him staying in Europe. In other words, for example, he no longer needs the visibility of the Champions League in order to be called up for international duty,” he began by saying during a broadcast on the NOW channel.

In contrast to the situation of the Reds’ captain, Pedro Sousa turned his attention to António Silva’s contract renewal. “I think Benfica is obliged to carry out a ‘kamikaze’ operation, like what André Villas-Boas did, or what Federico Varandas did. Varandas chose to keep Inácio, increasing his value and paying more, just as he did with Diomande,” he stressed.

In conclusion, the commentator reinforced his previous point: “Benfica is obliged to do that if it wants to have a competitive team. I should remind you that Otamendi is 38 years old, so he is no longer getting any younger. He always plays more than 4,000 minutes per season, and that is something truly fantastic, but there are times when difficult decisions have to be made, and I think this is one of those moments.”

This season, playing for Benfica, Nicolás Otamendi — valued at 1 million euros — has already made a total of 43 official appearances: 24 in Liga Portugal Betclic, 14 in the Champions League, two in the Portuguese Cup, two in the League Cup, and one in the Super Cup.

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