Rui Costa gets to work, close to keeping key man at Benfica | OneFootball

Rafael Quintas’s future should, after all, lie with Benfica. Based on the information gathered, the 17-year-old footballer’s situation has taken a 180-degree turn, and the Club from Luz, chaired by Rui Costa, is now closer to getting the academy midfielder to agree to a renewal once he comes of age.

According to the newspaper Record, Benfica are very close to reaching an agreement with Quintas, one of the main figures in Portugal’s under-17 national team, which recently won the European Championship and the World Cup in the same age group. On the table, according to the same source, is an incentive that the player is not unwilling to accept.

According to Record, the sporting project was the main obstacle to the renewal, since Rafael Quintas is aiming to reach the B team, a demand that the Eagles are said to have accepted in recent days. So far, the 17-year-old midfielder has played mainly for the under-19 and under-23 sides.

Thus, the Club from Luz is expected to open up more spots in Benfica’s B team in order to accommodate Rafael Quintas’s promotion to Nélson Veríssimo’s squad. On the other hand, Record assures that, like Anísio Cabral, Daniel Banjaqui and José Neto — names who shone alongside the midfielder in the national team — the 17-year-old footballer is also preparing to extend his deal until 2031.

In the current season, playing for Benfica, Rafael Quintas has already made 35 official appearances across the under-23 and under-19 levels: 15 in the National Junior Championship, 14 in Liga Revelação and six in the UEFA Youth League. In the 2,638 minutes he has spent on the pitch, the 17-year-old midfielder has recorded four goals and one assist.

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