The Benfica Gazette
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Mattéo Guendouzi due for a Benfica medical
Everything agreed with Fenerbahce, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Market10 Aug 2026
Brian Castillo arrives at Benfica in a $32.0M statement of intent
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Benfica have paid $32.0M for Brian Castillo, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Brian Castillo gets the move he always wanted
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Brian Castillo has just signed for Benfica, and for once the answer mattered.
Market10 Aug 2026
Anísio Cabral turns CSKA 1948 down
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Benfica rebuffed over Mario Dorgeles
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Braga have kept their man, and Benfica go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Market10 Aug 2026
Manchester United come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Benfica did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market10 Aug 2026
Fredrik Aursnes raises the bar for Benfica
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Benfica heard it as anything else.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Vangelis Pavlidis signs on for more
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Vangelis Pavlidis and Benfica agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Benfica
João Palhinha was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
In brief
- Squad Jhon Durán falls out with a teammate over standards
- The dugout Vangelis Pavlidis knocks on the manager’s door
- The terraces The spotlight tightens on Brian Castillo