There are few clubs in world football as adept at developing and selling players as Benfica. Whether it’s Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Ederson at Manchester City, Darwin Nunez at Liverpool, or Joao Cancelo, Joao Felix, Victor Lindelof and Renato Sanches elsewhere, the squads of Europe’s top sides have long been populated by stars who were given their big break at Estadio da Luz.
Enzo Fernandez, of course, is the latest cab off the rank in that regard, the Argentine World Cup winner having completed a remarkable £107 million (€120m/$130m) move to Chelsea on the final day of the January transfer window.
That felt like a blow to Benfica’s chances of Champions League glory this season, but after Roger Schmidt’s side topped a group featuring Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus with Fernandez in the team, they then dispatched Club Brugge in the last 16 without him, and go into their quarter-final clash with Inter as slight favourites to make the final four.
Fernandez’s departure has still left a void, but the good news is that there are plenty of other youngsters still at the club who are ready to step up and put themselves in the shop window, either in the coming months or in the years to come.
GOAL takes a look at the best of them…