Richard Ríos controversy? Benfica official says: I confirm it | OneFootball

Rui Costa defended Richard Ríos and clarified the entire process of the Colombian international's arrival at Benfica, who may lose a star player from their ranks. After Bruno Lage's statements, in which he claimed he didn't know the midfielder, the Eagles' President stated that the athlete was approved by the entire structure.

"I confirm that I know and see all the players who arrive. I made comments about Richard Ríos, as well as about other players. But he was a player approved by the coaching staff, the scout, the sporting director, the general director,” said Rui Costa, contradicting Bruno Lage.

"In the role of President, I have never been in the position to say 'I want this player and this player is coming'. There are many players who arrive via the president, others via the sporting director. That's how the football world is. Richard Ríos had been in our database for a long time due to what he did at Palmeiras, what he has done with the Colombian national team,” added Rui Costa.

"Today it's a topic because, clearly, he is still in a phase of adapting to European football. Now he had the misfortune of scoring an own goal against Chelsea and it might be a topic. For us, it is not a topic. Richard Ríos is a great player, a great asset that Benfica has. He showed that in the past and will show it again," considered Rui Costa.

"In fact, I can even say, and I think it does no harm, that we had already looked at him. But he was at prohibitive prices, much more than the 27 million. And although this year we paid a lot for him - and market values are like this - last year he would have cost much more,” concluded Rui Costa.

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