Roger Schmidt confirms Joao Mario ‘wants to leave Benfica’ but says club cannot sell all its players

Benfica coach Roger Schmidt confirmed on Thursday that player João Mário “wants to leave the club” but warned that the Reds need quality to compete for titles and cannot sell all their players.

“What can I say about João? [Mário] is that he wants to leave the club and that specific negotiations are underway to do so. That’s why he’s not in the squad for tomorrow [sexta-feira]. I expect him to leave. If he doesn’t leave before the end of the transfer market, he will continue to be our player,” the coach summed up at a press conference in Seixal.

Schmidt, moreover, admitted that he was not satisfied with the loss of another “key player” as happened in “situations like Grimaldo and Rafa Silva”, but stressed that he “respects the situation” of the midfielder and understands his decision.

Regarding possible entries and exits from the squad, he repeatedly stressed that the fact that there is “market interest” in Benfica players “does not mean that the players want to leave”, and recalled that the final decision belongs to the club.

“We want to fight for all the titles, so we need a very, very high-quality team, we can’t sell all our players. There are moves, but of course we have to maintain the quality of our team,” the coach said on the sidelines of a preview of the visit to Moreirense for the fourth round of the I Football League.

However, he admitted that he “talks” if one of the “three forwards is not happy with the situation and does not want to fight for the position.” He refused to say directly whether he would prefer Artur Cabral or Marcos Leonardo to go in this case, but left “hints.”

“Marcos Leonardo is a young striker, we bought him six months ago and we still believe in his potential, his qualities and we want to work on him so that he becomes a great striker for Benfica,” he commented.

In contrast, he refused to discuss a possible move for right-back Issa Kabore from Manchester City, despite admitting Benfica were “looking” for a player in that position, but agreed to talk about Swiss striker Zeki Amdouni from Burnley, “because it is very close to an agreement”.

“It gives us great quality in attack, especially because we can play flexibly as a second striker, on the flanks or as a striker. It is exactly the profile we were looking for and that is why we are delighted to sign the contract today,” the coach praised.

Benfica visit Moreirense on Friday in a match of the fourth round of the Portuguese Football League I, scheduled to kick off at 20:15, at the Parque Desportivo Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas in Moreira de Conegos, refereed by André Narciso (AF Setubal).