Benfica planned to buy Almería and Charlton

Benfica is not enough to be the most successful club in Portugal, but rather seeks the internationalization of the Las Águilas brand beyond its borders. As announced by the newspaper Espresso and that other media such as Eye, the president of Benfica since 2003, Luís Filipe Vieira planned the expansion of Benfica to Spain and England and for that tried to acquire ownership of Almería and English Charlton.

According to the information, Benfica had an agreement closed with Charlton in 2017 for its purchase but in the end the operation did not end up being fruitful. Jorge Mendes was the person in charge of the president of Benfica to deal with the issues to reach an agreement. By then, the English team was under the control of businessman Roland Duchatelet since 2014. The Belgian leader had paid 16.2 million euros for the club, becoming part of its sports conglomerate, including the Alcorcón, Standard de Lieja, Ujpest and Sint-Truidense. Duchatelet wanted to get rid of the club and Benfica was a good investor. But for unknown reasons and despite the initial agreement, the operation was ruined. Finally in 2020 Duchatelet sold the Charlton to Thomas Sandgaard, a Danish businessman based in Colorado.

The Almeria It was the other club that Luís Felipe Vieira had in mind to disembark in Spain in pure Manchester City or Red Bull style. The Spanish club was owned at that time by Alfonso García Gabarrón, who in 2019 sold it to Sheikh Turki Al-Sheikh, a confidant of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.