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According to The Sun, Portuguese giants Benfica could be banned from Champions League football for up to three years after being charged with a series of crimes, and Nottingham Forest must take advantage of the situation by signing Diogo Goncalves on a cheaper permanent deal.
What’s the story?
The Sun reports that the Lisbon attorney general’s office has brought charges against Benfica relating to allegations of corruption, the provision of false information and attempts to gain access to legal investigations.
Benfica are Portugal’s most successful club having won the league a record 36 times and, although they finished runners up last season, this still allowed them to qualify for this year’s Champions League where they have been drawn against Bayern Munich, Ajax and AEK Athens in the group stages.
Now though, according to The Sun, they have been accused of 30 different crimes but a verdict could take years from the notoriously slow legal system in Portugal if the case does go to trial. If things do progress though, many of the club’s players may look to force moves away and Forest should take advantage of this.
Permanent deals
Forest boss Aitor Karanka broke the club’s transfer record this summer to complete a £13.2m deal for attacking midfielder Joao Carvalho from Benfica, with the help of super agent Jorge Mendes. He was not the only one to make that move this summer though and it was the Portuguese agent’s company Gestifute who also helped Karanka sign Goncalves on loan.
The 21-year-old can play on either wing and is a Portuguese U21 international, with a quite incredible record of six goals in seven games for the youth side.
The terms of his loan deal mean that Forest do have an option to buy Goncalves after the initial 12 months, but with the turmoil at Benfica the club should attempt to negotiate a cut-price deal to ensure the talented youngster remains at the City Ground.
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