Rui Costa makes record investment at Benfica, but top stars slip away | OneFootball

Benfica was the team in Liga Portugal that spent the most in this transfer window, with Rui Costa investing heavily in Bruno Lage’s squad with one goal in mind: to reclaim the national championship. Even so, among the new signings, there are several players who were highly coveted by the Eagles but ultimately never made it to Luz.

Among all the failed deals, the most notable is, very likely, João Félix. The Portuguese international – who recently shone for the national team – had no place in Chelsea’s squad, so he was quickly linked with Benfica, even publicly admitting that he was inclined to return to the Eagles. Nevertheless, despite negotiations opening between Benfica and João Félix, he ultimately chose Al Nassr.

Thiago Almada was another major target for Benfica. The Argentine international stood out at Lyon, on loan from Botafogo and, according to market experts, Rui Costa was willing to pay 40 million euros for the midfielder, who ended up moving to Atlético Madrid. The Spanish club acquired 50% of the player’s rights for 20 million euros.

Next is Hadj Moussa, a footballer who was seen as the solution to Benfica’s desire to find a winger. The Eagles even offered between 12 and 15 million euros for the player, who ended up renewing his contract with Feyenoord. Also for the attack, Carlos Álvarez emerged as a backup option after Akturkoglu’s almost certain departure from the Eagles. Rui Costa was willing to pay 15 million euros plus add-ons for the 22-year-old, but Levante demanded the 25 million euro release clause for the player.

Besides João Félix, there was another player who, for a brief moment, was faced with the possibility of returning ‘home’. Nélson Semedo became a free agent in this transfer window after his contract with Wolverhampton ended. In search of a right-back, Benfica opened the door for a return, but the Portuguese international ended up moving to Fenerbahçe, returning to Luz as a visitor in the Champions League play-off match, where he ended up leaving with an injury.

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