Benfica are said to be open to the idea of selling Darwin Nunez this summer, with a number of top European clubs interested. One of the main conditions they’ve apparently set for any deal for the Uruguayan striker to go through is that a potential transfer is completed early in the window, so that they have enough time to identify and acquire a suitable replacement.
One of the players they’ve been monitoring and are now considering a swoop for, according to David Ornstein of The Athletic, is VfB Stuttgart’s Sasa Kalajdzic.
Born in Vienna, the 24-year-old passed through several clubs at youth level before earning a place in the first team with Admira Wacker in 2017. Stuttgart took him on for a reported fee of less than €2 million two years later, and since then, he’s gone on to score 24 goals along with nine assists in 57 matches in all competitions for the Bundesliga side.
Benfica are apparently very interested in bringing Kalajdzic in to replace Nunez from next season, but they will be aware that they face competition from the likes of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund who are also monitoring the Stuttgart man.
The aspect that would certainly work in the favour of the Portuguese club is the fact that the player would likely be getting far more minutes on the pitch in Lisbon than in Dortmund or Munich. Dortmund have signed Karim Adeyemi to replace Erling Haaland, while Bayern are still battling to keep hold of Robert Lewandowski and have reportedly spoken to the representatives of Liverpool star Sadio Mane.
Benfica expect to get around €60m for Nunez, and Stuttgart are believed to be looking for €25m for Kalajdzic, who is entering the final year of contract next month.
