According to The Daily Mail, Leeds United face competition from Fulham for the signing of Benfica starlet Florentino Luis.
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The 20-year-old has previously reported to have been tracked by the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City, but it appears two of the Premier League’s new boys are firmly in the running to sign him.
The Daily Mail claim that Leeds have asked about the Portuguese midfielder, although Fulham’s club scouts have also identified him as a potential target.
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The report adds that Luis’ side have made him available for £2.5m for a season-long loan, but with a £40m fee attached at the end of the season to buy him on a permanent basis.
Marcelo Bielsa could transform him
After initially starting all four of Benfica’s opening league games last season, Luis fell out of favour for the rest of the campaign, with a meniscal injury not helping his cause either.
But whilst he may have only played 18 times, his talent is still undoubted, and is a young prospect who just needs a coach like Marcelo Bielsa to help him realise his potential. Luis’ former coach, Joao Tralhao, said of him: “(He has) an exceptional talent and physical qualities totally in line with his footballing qualities. (He) has a very similar profile to Casemiro. From very early on, we realised that Florentino was on his way to becoming an elite player.”
The midfielder has been lauded for his N’Golo Kante-like abilities to cover a lot of ground in the engine room, and for his impressive reading of the game despite his age. Andre David, a coach in Portugal, remarked: “He has incredible space-covering capacity, he’s very intelligent at anticipating and recovering the ball.”
At just 20, Luis has age on his side, and if Victor Orta can land him this summer, then he could be a player who Bielsa can help transform into a superstar at Elland Road.