Another hotshot coming fresh off SL Benfica’s production line, European football is beginning to wake up and take note of Antonio Silva.
The 19 year old, who is in Portugal’s World Cup squad but did not feature against Ghana in their opening fixture, is only 19 years old, but plays with the composure and authority of someone twice his age.
Benfica have a reputation of bringing through excellent talent that go on to be world beaters. Bernardo Silva, Ederson, Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Dias and many others have all come through the prestigious youth ranks at Benfica and have been sold for a huge transfer fee.
Silva is the next in line to make it big with the way his trajectory is going. The young centre back is being talked among Europe’s elite as the next big thing out of the Portuguese giant’s academy.
Manchester United continue to monitor the Portuguese market and are routinely visiting the ‘big three’ in Sporting CP, FC Porto and SL Benfica. Silva has been flagged up as a potential centre half that they should be monitoring moving forward.
While Erik Ten Hag will be pleased with his current two centre backs that are his first choice – Lisandro Martinez on the left and Raphael Varane on the right – he will have concerns over the longevity of the latter.
Varane, unfortunately, has been injured on and off throughout his Red Devils career and cannot be relied upon. When he is fit, as shown for Real Madrid and France, he is a world-class centre back that will be a shoe-in at Manchester United, but he is consistently having problems.
While there is no reason to suggest that Varane will be moved on in any way, Ten Hag will want suitable rotational options that he can rely upon and trust if they are to challenge for major honours.
Typically, along with many Portuguese centre halves, Silva is astute on the ball and can begin the attack from the back. Ten Hag clearly wants to play possession-dominating football, but needs the right components to do so. He has challenged goalkeeper David de Gea to improve with his distribution, in which he is seeing a change, but Ten Hag needs to trust that all of his defence are more than comfortable receiving the ball.
As a young centre half, Silva would have two world-class, leading players in his position to learn from and nurture his game further. Argentina’s Martinez might have only joined the club in the summer, but he has become a fan’s favourite and been exemplary in every single game. It is rare for a player to come into the PremierPINC League and hit the ground running at the first time of asking.
In Varane, there is a player who has won the lot twice over. A serial winner with experience of a lifetime. Silva would be well looked after by those two as he begins to make his name and come through to seriously challenge.
Benfica know they have another gem on their hands and are not going to relinquish their prized asset for short of £50 million. The 19 year old has a bright future and if he is to play any part of Portugal’s World Cup, that price tag is only going to further increase.