How Benfica have made €200 million in player sales alone in the last decade
One of the biggest names when talking about Portugues football, SL Benfica has a rich footballing tradition with a 115-year old history.
The most successful club in the history of Portuguese football with 36 Primeira Liga (record), 26 Taca de Portugal (record), 7 Taca da Liga (record), 7 Supertaca Candido de Oliveira and 2 European Cups, Benfica are now far from the European powerhouse they once used to be.
The financial constrictions have seen the Portuguese club being relegated to more of a selling club. This method though has reaped big riches, with Benfica receiving over £200 million profit from developing and selling their precious talents to foreign clubs.
Given below are the list of players sold by Benfica in the last decade that has resulted in Portuguese club making over £200 million profits.
#1 Ederson Moraes - £35m
The Brazilian joined SL Benfica youth Academy in 2009, aged 16, spending 2 years with the youth teams before moving away from the club to join second division Ribeirao in 2011. Ederson was so impressive with Ribeirao that Rio Ave came calling the very next season. 4 seasons later Ederson was back where he started, joining SL Benfica in 2015 for a fee of just €500,000.
Ederson spent just two seasons with Benfica before moving to his present club Manchester City in 2017. The Brazilian made 56 appearances for Benfica, winning 2 Premier Liga, 1 Taca de Portugal, and 1 Taca de Liga in his 2 seasons for the club.
The 2017/18 season saw Pep Guardiola coming for the Brazilian as Ederson made the move across the English channel to join Manchester City for £35 million.