Chelsea Enter Race For Benfica Sensation, Manchester United’s January Deal Could Fall Apart

Jan 24, 2017 at 1:30 AM

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Chelsea Enter Race For Benfica Sensation, Manchester United’s January Deal Could Fall Apart

Premier League giants Chelsea have joined the pursuit of Benfica full-back Nelson Semedo.

As reported by the A Bola, the West Londoners will battle with Manchester United and Bayern Munich for the young defender.

Chelsea have conducted a number of deals with Benfica in recent years, with the Premier League side signing David Luiz, Ramires and Nemanja Matic from the Portuguese giants.

It’s believed that Benfica will want around £34.5m for Semedo.

The defender, who joined Benfica from minnows Sintrense in 2012, is contracted to the Estadio da Luz side until 2021. The 23-year-old right-back has been a revelation for the Estadio da Luz outfit this season, starting all 17 of the domestic games he has been available for so far and starring in the Champions League.

The Portuguese player could challenge Victor Moses for the right-wing-back area in Chelsea manager Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 tactics. Benfica legend Antonio Veloso called him an ‘extraordinary player’ last month.

“Nelson Semedo is an extraordinary player and is still on the rise, He is very fast, he works well on the defensive and offensive aspect and there have been interested clubs, which is natural.” Veloso said.

Born in Lisbon, Semedo started his career in the youth ranks at Sintrense before being snapped up by the Lisbon giants in 2012. A season in the club’s “B” team was followed by a loan deal which took him to Fatima.

After one season away, he was back in the capital and when Maxi Pereira left the club, Semedo signed a contract extension until 2021 and joined the first-team on their summer tour in 2015.

His full debut came in August of the same year in the Supercup against city rivals Sporting and just one week later, he scored his first goal in the top division against Estoril. Now there’s concrete interest from his fellow countryman at Old Trafford along with a world class manager like Antonio Conte and the future looks bright for one of Portugal’s brightest stars.

 

 

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