Benfica man can offer Moyes and Sunderland early salvation
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Taking over at a Premier League club with just five weeks of the summer transfer window remaining is never ideal, but new Sunderland boss David Moyes might just have found his first acquisition.
The Black Cats are believed to be very keen on welcoming Benfica winger Eduardo Salvio to the Stadium of Light, for a fee of around £21m.
Salvio has been with the Portuguese giants since 2012, going on to make over 160 appearances.
A player with flair and plenty of creativity, Salvio has scored 38 times in addition to 33 assists for Benfica, after joining from Atletico Madrid.
The 26-year-old won the Europa League twice in the Spanish capital, and continued his trophy-winning ways in Portugal, helping Benfica to three Primeira Ligas, one Taca de Portugal and four Taca de Ligas.
Salvio also reached two more Europa League finals – totalling four appearances in five seasons – but it’s believed Benfica are now keen to cash in.
The reason for that could be a concern for the Black Cats, with the Argentina international twice rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament – missing the large part of two campaigns.
Salvio featured just 12 times in the 2013-14 campaign following the first injury, and made only seven appearances last season for the same reason, returning to first-team action this February.
When fit, the winger’s statistics clearly spell out why Sunderland and Moyes want to make a move.
In his first full season at the Estadio da Luz in 2012-13 – following a loan spell in 2010 – Salvio produced 10 league goals and nine assists from just 29 appearances.
Two years later, the Lanus native repeated his best form, this time with nine goals and 10 assists from 29 games.
So it’s clear that a fully fit Salvio has plenty to offer, and having returned to the first team earlier this year, it appears that is what Sunderland would be paying for.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
