Given Helton Leite’s departure in March, SAD will still decide, together with Roger Schmidt, whether the schedule for the next season will have to be brought forward. Handing second place to Samuel Soares is one of the options on the table, but fear of injury to the regular starter is fueling the foray into the market to fill a slated position later.
The goal boost is highlighted in Benfica’s squad recomposition to-do list, but only for next season, which may now need to be reconsidered given the prospect of leaving regular replacement Helton Leite, in a decision that will still be analyzed between president Rui Costa, sporting director Rui Pedro Braz and coach Roger Schmidt.
Vlachodimos, who is even discussing the renewal of his contract, continues to occupy the position, but is expected to lose the one who has been his shadow, thus leaving a vacant position which could know two ways of being filled. On the one hand, and with the hiring of a new goalkeeper scheduled for next season, the bet on the young Samuel Soares, holder of the B team who also made his debut in the national under-21, makes part of the assimilated solutions. by those responsible for the Light.
However, and because Samuel Soares is only 20 – he has played 90 minutes in two friendlies for Benfica – SAD’s high expectations for the current season may give strength to another trend that is pointing towards the hiring, in advance, of another goalkeeper who could already be a direct competitor of Vlachodimos. In this way, any setback, especially physical, that could occur to the Greek international would be compensated immediately with a goalkeeper who is already more experienced in his course. The national title race and the discussion of the Champions League lend weight to this second path.
Helton Leite racks up suitors
Helton Leite is expected to change location in January and several clubs are already considering signing him. After Vasco da Gama, it was Bahia who positioned themselves to secure the services of the 32-year-old goalkeeper, the Bahian emblem coached by former Benfica Renato Paiva with the help of Grupo City (owners of Manchester City) for the reformulation of the team. However, and as we discovered, there is also a European club on the keeper’s trail, who prefer to stay in Europe.
