Benfica manager Roger Schmidt said he remains confident of his team’s capability despite losing star player Enzo Fernandez to Chelsea on the January transfer deadline day.
The Portuguese club confirmed in Wednesday’s early hours that it reached an agreement with Chelsea over the transfer of Fernandez.
The negotiations lasted longer than expected but Chelsea eventually secured their club-record signing and Benfica their second-biggest sale at €121million (close to £107m).
The amount received from the transfer may not be very helpful to Benfica manager Schmidt, who did not really have the time to bring in a replacement,
Some may even think that the Argentina international’s departure could ruin Benfica’s title charge, as they are currently leading Liga Bwin by 10 points.
However, he argued that his side’s convincing 3-0 win on Tuesday proved otherwise.
“Losing a good player in this market window is always complicated, but we showed that without Enzo we can play good football,” the manager said after the win over Arouca (via Benfica’s official website).
“The players are very focused on getting points and being champions, and Benfica is much bigger than any player.
“We need players who feel passion in representing Benfica and who are happy at Benfica.
“If a player decides to leave, and if someone triggers the release clause, there is nothing we can do, we have to accept it.
“We have top players and it will be an opportunity for other players to come. We look to the future.”
To be fair to Benfica, they have lost a number of top players in over the years, including Joao Felix, Ruben Dias, and more recently, Darwin Nunez, and still managed to do relatively well both domestically and in Europe.
Even if they were to keep Fernandez in the January transfer window, the 22-year-old would likely still leave the club at the end of the season, considering the number of top clubs interested in him.
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