Ruben Dias: Benfica announce Manchester City deal for Benfica defender
Manchester City have agreed a £65m deal to sign defender Ruben Dias, Benfica have announced, with Nicolas Otamendi moving in the opposite direction.
The deal for Dias is worth an initial £62m, with a further £3m subject to add-ons, and was confirmed in a statement from Benfica on Sunday night following City’s 5-2 defeat at home to Leicester.
In the statement, the Portuguese club said they had agreed a separate fee of 15m euros (£13.6m) to sign Otamendi.
Both deals were subject to personal terms being finalised, the club said.
City boss Pep Guardiola has been seeking a right-sided centre-back since Vincent Kompany left last year.
Dias has impressed during three seasons at Benfica and was in Portugal’s 2018 World Cup squad.
The 23-year-old scored and captained the side in Benfica’s 2-0 win over Moreinense on Saturday, after which Dias was pictured hugging Benfica’s sporting director Rui Costa.
Speaking after the game, Benfica manager Jorge Jesus said: „I’m pretty sure it was his (Rúben Dias’s) last game, but sometimes everything changes at the last second in football. I don’t think that’s going to happen, though.
„He’s a player we’re sorry to see go, he came through the academy, is our captain and plays for the national team. I also take some of the blame for him leaving today.
„This is also to do with getting knocked out of the Champions League and there are things that need to be balanced (financially) at management level. He has a high market value and is certainly already a fantastic player who will continue to improve.“
Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly had been City’s top target but his valuation has remained out of reach so far, while Sevilla’s Jules Kounde also emerged as one of their preferred options.
City have denied placing a £78m bid for Atletico Madrid centre-back Jose Gimenez, after the La Liga club’s president claimed he had rejected an offer for the central defender.
‘Pep’s defenders aren’t good enough’
„They were so good in the opening 25 minutes but as soon as Leicester broke on them a couple of times, you felt that, psychologically, it just damaged them.
„Some of the wounds from last season are reappearing. The bugs that cost them the title. Certainly, you can get at this Manchester City back four a lot quicker that you could previously. They don’t seem to react in transition higher up as they did.“
On the three penalties: „Three different players making the same basic error. Rashness. Naivety. Whatever you want to call it, it is there in that backline. Pep Guardiola is looking to see if he can defend his players but I am not sure he can.
„His defenders aren’t good enough, whichever way you want to look at it. He is a great coach, one of the greatest coaches of all time. But one-on-one, once his defenders get in those positions, they are really poor. It is almost like in their mind they cannot get their head around the fact that someone has got goal-side of them.“
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