Rui Costa claims selling Goncalo Ramos kept Benfica from losing other pieces

The departure of football player Goncalo Ramos to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window did not allow Benfica to lose other players in the squad, national champions president Rui Costa admitted on Tuesday.

“Having felt the sadness of the fans, everyone should make sure that there is no club that could live and pay its bills without selling players. We prefer to make the sale more expensive, while retaining very important players. [David] Neres, Morato, Florentino, [Petar] Musa… We also had proposals from António Silva and João Neves. To earn the same amount, we would have to make four or five sales. The sale of Goncalo Ramos allows us to reach the end of the season without selling more players,” the coach said in an interview with BTV, evaluating the game of the “embodied” in the offseason.

Portuguese striker Goncalo Ramos, 22, set Benfica’s highest sale of the summer when he was loaned to Paris Saint-Germain on a mandatory buyout of 65 million euros (ME), plus 15 million euros for goals .

“While this is still considered a loan, it has not changed our financial maneuvers in any way. Now no one chooses the “terms” for a deal or start negotiations. Apparently, there was an initial attempt to play It’s out of scope for the Super Bowl, but from the moment negotiations are underway and the player already owns the offer of the future club, forget about this athlete,” he said.

The transfer was confirmed three days before the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in which Benfica beat Porto 2-0 in Aveiro in the official debut of the 2023/24 season, with Rui Costa calling it “more of a romantic idea than real” . “The presence of Goncalo Ramos.

“This game was not in his head and was prepared without his presence. It is legal and normal that the player is no longer here with his head and does not want to take risks. We have to be very objective: we have to act. There must be athletes on the field who would be fully mentally prepared to play in this Super Bowl. I couldn’t ask Gonzalo about it, knowing for myself what risk he took to play a game of this magnitude,” he said.

The striker made a big contribution to the fixed ME 92.4 received by the national champions in transfer income between July and early September, an amount that could rise by ME 22.9 in variables compared to an investment of ME 69 plus 11 in bonuses.

“It’s been a journey [ao mercado] in an attempt to balance the bills, but it was in many ways an indication of season planning in sports terms. I believe that this has been fully achieved. We need to not only look at the numbers, but also understand whether they are useful for Benfica or not. I am satisfied with the market that brought us solutions and added value financially. When this is the case, it is very positive,” said Rui Costa, convinced that Roger Schmidt’s team is “stronger” compared to the 2022/23 season.

The off-season also saw the free arrival of striker Ángel Di Maria, the Argentina national team world champion, who returned to the club where he represented himself in the world elite from 2007 to 2010 after a short stint with the Argentina national team. Juventus.

“Let me tell you a secret: he signed a contract a month before the performance at Luza. Last year he was very close to it. [de voltar], but Juventus came up with values ​​that we couldn’t achieve. This year, from the moment he heard that Benfica were still interested in him, he didn’t want to hear anything else. This happened without exceeding the salary cap and without a signing bonus. His arrival is: “I want to play for Benfica again. What you can give me is what I will get.” It should do justice to his will,” he said, hoping to convince the striker to stay at Luz after the end of the 2023/24 season.