Benfica Lisbon have signed young marksman Marcos Leonardo from Santos!

Former Santos striker Marcos Leonardo got his long-awaited transfer. He wanted to leave the club in the last transfer window, but only now he has succeeded. Now he belongs to the famous Benfica Lisbon!

The transfer took place in the last few days. As described to Brazilian TV by Santos president Marcelo Teixeira himself, the player’s wish was to leave, which the club respected under the given financial conditions.

The player, who was linked with a move to AS Roma a year ago summer and whose services were also sought by Arsenal London, is thus finally moving to one of the most successful football clubs in Portugal – Benfica Lisbon.

The transfer fee for the player was set at €18 million. The Santos club will then receive a further 10 per cent of the resale price. The exit clause has been set at €150 million and the contract runs until June 2029!

With David Nerez suffering from a knee injury, Benfica needed reinforcements in attack. In the last few games, the Danish Casper Tengstedt has been the one who has been on top the most and it is the Brazilian youngster who should create competition for him.

Marcos Leonardo class of 2003 is one of Santos’ most talented players in recent times. In October 2019, he signed his first professional contract with the club for three years. He will then make his debut in the Brazilian Serie A on 20 August 2020 in an away match against Sport Recife.

Since then, he has featured regularly and most importantly, even as a very young player, he has managed to score a lot of goals. In total, he scored 43 goals and 9 assists in 130 games for Santos. It is no wonder that he has earned the interest of leading European clubs.

Marcos will also meet former Slavs Petar Musa and David Jurasek, who is currently linked with a move to French side Lens. Among the club’s biggest stars are undoubtedly Argentina’s Angel Di Maria or Nicolas Otamendi.

The Lisbon Eagles are second in the Portuguese league this season, one point behind leaders Sporting. Currently, midfielder Rafa Silva is Benfica’s top scorer with five goals. This, too, is testament to how badly coach Roger Schmidt’s team needs a quality, goal-scoring striker.

Source: Fabrizio Romano, Transfermarkt, X