José Mourinho tried to pinch striker from Benfica | OneFootball

The arrival of José Mourinho as the technical director of Benfica was the perfect pretext to remember Vangelis Pavlidis, a forward who was sought after by the Portuguese coach before he signed with the Eagles. The national press discussed the matter, which dates back to the time when the Special One was at AS Roma.

According to an article published by the newspaper A Bola, the Special One, then coach of Roma, had 'requested' the giallorossi officials to sign the Greek international who, at that time, still represented the Dutch AZ Alkmaar. A wish that is two years old and is very close to being realized.

As the same source reveals, the Setubal coach, at the time had Tammy Abraham as the main offensive reference of the Italians, however, the Englishman was seriously injured and Mourinho saw in Pavlidis the ideal solution to replace the striker. However, despite the effort, AZ Alkmaar never considered the proposal presented by Roma acceptable, causing the deal to never materialize.

The truth is that the Greek had a very successful season in 2022/23, where, after 40 official matches, he scored 22 goals and made 12 assists. However, the numbers achieved in the following year, in 2023/24, were enough for Benfica to step forward and close his signing.

In his second season at the Club da Luz, Vangelis Pavlidis - currently valued at 35 million euros - has already played 10 official matches this sports season. In the 771 minutes he was on the field, the number 14 of the Eagles scored four goals.

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