What makes Benfica’s success over the past few years more impressive is that the Eagles regularly sell their leading players to Europe’s top clubs. Benfica is in a seemingly never-ending rebuild and the first-team line-up is constantly changing, but so far the team has been able to skillfully replace players who have left for other clubs. By the way, betting Tanzania is the best here.
Whether using their elite worldwide scouting network to find players with great potential or developing home-grown talent, Benfica has built on success every year while generating huge profits. Let’s take a look at the players Benfica have made a lot of money selling since 2013 by being able to profitably replace these players.
Sold: Nemanja Matic to Chelsea for €25m
Signed by: Lubomir Fejsa of Olympiacos for €4.5m
Matic ended up at Benfica in a 2011 deal to bring David Luiz to Chelsea. But after a couple of great seasons at the Portuguese club, the Serbian midfielder returned to Stamford Bridge in January 2014. Benfica prepared in advance for the departure of Matic, because there were rumors of interest in Nemanja from top clubs back in the summer of 2013. Therefore, in the same summer, the Eagles arranged for the transfer of his compatriot Lubomir Feis from Olympiacos. That is why Benfica agreed to sell Matic in January, because the defensive midfield position was already closed.
Feisa played for the Eagles for seven years, and the 2017/18 and 2019/20 seasons were the only seasons in his career when he failed to win a league title in 12 years (starting with his performances for Partizan in 2008). By 2020, Feisa faced a series of injuries, so he left for the Saudi Al-Ahli, and this year Lubomir returned to Partizan.
Sold: Enzo Perez to Valencia for €25m
Signed: Pizzi from Braga for 5.5 million euros
In fact, Pizzi signed for Benfica 18 months before Enzo Pérez was sold to Valencia in December 2014, but spent the 2013/14 season on loan at Espanyol before returning to Estadio da Lush.” Pizzi, who during his time in Spain mainly played as a striker, after returning to Benfica, became a delayed playmaker, playing in central midfield, which allowed him to replace Enzo Pérez after he moved to Valencia. Pizzi continued to play as a central midfielder until the 2018/19 season, after which he moved to the right side of the attack. He made 360 appearances for Benfica in all competitions, scoring 94 goals and providing 96 assists, and was loaned to Istanbul Basaksehir this season.
Sold: Jan Oblak to Atlético Madrid for €15m
Signed: Ederson from Rio Ave for €500,000
Benfica made good money selling Oblak, selling the Slovenian goalkeeper to Atlético Madrid for €15m after he made just 26 appearances for the Eagles in 4 years. After all, Jan was on loan most of the time, and played for Benfica only in the 2013/14 season. The Portuguese club first replaced Oblak with Julio Cesar and then another Brazilian Ederson, who made his debut for the Eagles in the second half of the 2015/16 season. Afterwards, Ederson had an excellent 2016/17 campaign, where he kept clean sheets in 18 of 27 Portuguese league matches, which caught the attention of Manchester City. They also managed to earn a lot of money on the sale of the Brazilian, because the “townspeople” bought him for 41.5 million euros.