Exclusive: Rui Costa wants new deal for Jorge Mendes' Benfica player | OneFootball

Henrique Araújo is expected to renew his contract with Benfica very soon. In this Glorioso 1904 Exclusive, our newspaper reveals that the leaders of the Clube da Luz, headed by Rui Costa, have great faith in the potential of the athlete managed by Jorge Mendes, whose contract runs until June 2027.

According to what we have learned, the Portugal U21 international is meeting the expectations of the club’s management. As such, Rui Costa’s strategy is to ‘tie down’ the striker by putting a proposal on the table to extend his connection to the Clube da Luz, which, for now, is valid until June 2027.

Although he is not Bruno Lage’s first choice in the starting eleven, the Eagles believe that the player will be the future striker for the team in the medium term. After three consecutive loans—Watford (England), Famalicão, and Arouca—Henrique Araújo is about to get a new lease of life at Benfica.

In this sense, the plan is to keep the footballer in the squad, even though he faces strong competition from Vangelis Pavlidis and Franjo Ivanovic—the number 39—who stood out in the pre-season—and will earn the trust of the Setúbal-born coach over the course of the season.

In 24/25, wearing the Arouca shirt, the club to which he was loaned by Benfica, Henrique Araújo—valued at 2 million euros—played 26 matches: 24 in Liga Portugal Betclic and two in the Portuguese Cup. He scored seven goals and also provided one assist. This season, he has played four matches (26 minutes).

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