Benfica beat off competition to sign Croatian hotshot Franjo Ivanovic | OneFootball

Benfica may have missed out on high-profile transfer targets João Félix and Thiago Almada this summer, but the Eagles won the race to land Croatian striker Franjo Ivanovic.

The 21-year-old Ivanovic had made himself a hot property having scored 20 goals and provided five assists for Saint-Gilloise last season, with Benfica chasing his signature for several weeks of protracted negotiations.

Italian club Como reportedly made a bigger offer to the Belgian club than Benfica but the player preferred the Portuguese giants, but late interest from both Frankfurt and Wolverhampton Wanderers then threatened to scupper the deal.

However, the transfer was officially announced late last week, with a direct telephone call by Benfica manager Bruno Lage to Ivanovic proving decisive.

Benfica paid Saint-Gilloise €22.8 million plus €5 million in add-ons. The centre-forward has signed a contract until 2030 at the Estádio da Luz, with a release clause of €100 million.

Lage now faces a dilemma given that he usually selects just striker. The regular occupant of that position, Vangelis Pavlidis, enjoyed a brilliant debut season for the Lisbon outfit, scoring 30 goals in 57 matches, and the Greek marksman started the new campaign by hitting the winner as Benfica beat Sporting 1-0 in the Portuguese Super Cup in the Algarve on Thursday.

After the match, Lage was asked if he intended to play the two forwards together. “It depends on them,” he responded.

“I’m going to observe them and try and understand what works best. I believe Ivanovic can play alongside, behind or in front of Pavlidis. He’s a player with enormous potential.”