Álvaro Carreras | Benfica

He should’ve been bought back on the opening day of the January window. The best value for money deal available, no idea why we’re overlooking him.
Do it please. Going from Grimaldo to Carreras is too much for us Sporting fans. Benfica needs to revert back to the days of shitty LB. I know United are skint but sell some dross and get him. The option isn't too expensive.
 
It shows how clueless ETH was dismissing Alvaro without even giving him a chance, way more talented than Malacia. Remember Alvaro was voted u21player of the year and then never given a chance to impress.
From watching him the last few years he doesn't look the fastest but is very intelligent and very skillful, great crosser and passer , everything we need now.

What makes it even stranger from the limited times I have watched him is how he would of suited Ten Hag. Further proof that the Ten Hag era needs investigating
 
Benficas best player in that first half.
Why are we looking at Dorgu for €35m when we could sign Alvaro back for €20m?? We need to use money wisely.
 
I understand exploring a Dorgu deal first because this is in the back pocket, he's doing ok in this game but the commentator has been jamming up his performance as "outstanding" which Im not seeing. If it were any other club who sold him he wouldn't be mentioned on comms as often as he has been.
 
Commentary team are over praising him perhaps, almost seems like a subtle dig at united every time they mention him
 
I can imagine the conversation
Alvaro we know you are earning €28,000 a week at Benfica but we can offer you €150,000 if you come back .
pretty much :D

I checked his salary again, It is 36k€, aprox 30k£ per week.
 
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I understand exploring a Dorgu deal first because this is in the back pocket, he's doing ok in this game but the commentator has been jamming up his performance as "outstanding" which Im not seeing. If it were any other club who sold him he wouldn't be mentioned on comms as often as he has been.
Same here, I don't see anything "outstanding". Barca are just playing poorly and are gifting goals. He's not even been properly tested. Also he's in a team that sits back. Let's see how he does if they have to push up vs a good strong team.
 
I understand exploring a Dorgu deal first because this is in the back pocket, he's doing ok in this game but the commentator has been jamming up his performance as "outstanding" which Im not seeing. If it were any other club who sold him he wouldn't be mentioned on comms as often as he has been.
He's been very good but you have to analyze his performance with perspective. Barcelona has been defending like a Sunday league team. I mean Pavlidis has an hattrick. A player mocked in Portugal as a donkey and overspend.
 
Benficas best player in that first half.
Why are we looking at Dorgu for €35m when we could sign Alvaro back for €20m?? We need to use money wisely.

1) There have been reports that the club are prioritising improving the terrible lack of physicality of the squad. In which case Dorgu is the more obvious pick and Alvaro doesn't really fit, as physicality really isn't his strong suit. Even more so if we were to play him as a wingback.

2) Buying him back is pretty bad from a PSR perspective. Not only does the act of selling him just to buy him back do damage, you're also forgoing the "pure profit" sell-on fee you'd get if someone else buys him. For a club struggling with PSR as is, that's hardly attractive.
 
1) There have been reports that the club are prioritising improving the terrible lack of physicality of the squad. In which case Dorgu is the more obvious pick and Alvaro doesn't really fit, as physicality really isn't his strong suit. Even more so if we were to play him as a wingback.

2) Buying him back is pretty bad from a PSR perspective. Not only does the act of selling him just to buy him back do damage, you're also forgoing the "pure profit" sell-on fee you'd get if someone else buys him. For a club struggling with PSR as is, that's hardly attractive.
On #2, I don’t think those finances should stop us from buying a superior player
 
I liked him when he was here and it's great to see him doing so well. No doubt he'd improve that LWB spot for us - that's not really saying much, but still - but I do wonder whether his lack of athleticism would hinder him in the PL? Especially in our squad, already severely lacking in these aspects.

I'm genuinely interested in the opinions of those who watch him as I watch little to nothing outside of the PL / United these days.
 
On #2, I don’t think those finances should stop us from buying a superior player

If he's superior. But given they were willing to sell him for €6m a few months ago, it's probably safe to assume that he isn't rated as highly within the club as he is by some people on this forum.

And that was when we were playing with fullbacks. With wingbacks a lack of physicality will be even more of a hindrance, in a team already struggling in that regard.
 
Since the window has opened, we haven't really been linked to him.
We've tended to be linked with more imposing players, home and abroad.
 
If he's superior. But given they were willing to sell him for €6m a few months ago, it's probably safe to assume that he isn't rated as highly within the club as he is by some people on this forum.

And that was when we were playing with fullbacks. With wingbacks a lack of physicality will be even more of a hindrance, in a team already struggling in that regard.

I’m not sure where this lack of physicality thing is coming from but he certainly hasn’t shown to be lacking it tonight.
 
Not sure #2 is correct. Is it not a known loophole that you can sell an academy player and trouser all the cash then buy them back and spread the payment over the length of the contract?
 
Not sure #2 is correct. Is it not a known loophole that you can sell an academy player and trouser all the cash then buy them back and spread the payment over the length of the contract?

The maths doesn't add up if you're selling him for €6m and then buying him back for €20m plus increased wages.

And that's without counting the sell on fee you would have got if a different club had bought him.
 
I think we should have kept him given what we have but also didn't see enough to be up in arms. Id want a really electric wing back for this season but fernandez in a back 4
 
The maths doesn't add up if you're selling him for €6m and then buying him back for €20m plus increased wages.

And that's without counting the sell on fee you would have got if a different club had bought him.
True true
 
If he's superior. But given they were willing to sell him for €6m a few months ago, it's probably safe to assume that he isn't rated as highly within the club as he is by some people on this forum.

And that was when we were playing with fullbacks. With wingbacks a lack of physicality will be even more of a hindrance, in a team already struggling in that regard.

Considering how he has been playing in Portugal and Europe, that says more about us than him.
 
I’m not sure where this lack of physicality thing is coming from but he certainly hasn’t shown to be lacking it tonight.

It's coming from people having watched him play football.

Even when he was a United player, it was something regularly noted about him:

Good technically, but I don't think he has the speed to get to the top echelons.

He's very good but the defensive side of his game is weak and he doesn't quite have the pace you'd expect of a fullback

I just don't see a PL fullback being as athletically limited as he is. Doesn't seem workable to me.

Don’t see him being at his best as a fullback, lack of pace and rubbish defensively.

Looks like a good prospect, but physicality of prem is too much for him at this stage, imo.

He is as slow as a wet week so I don't think England is for him.

Fernandez does have potential to be good for them and beyond but there have always been questions about his pace, I think the youth forum thread on him would show as much.

My impression has always been that he’s a little on the slower side but a real weapon going forward.

I've always said that he'll have to switch position to play at the top level. He's simply not athletic enough to be a fullback. It's so obvious to me that I really don't understand it never being tried at youth level.

Very gifted on the ball, but lacks some key physical attributes.

He's not fast, he's rather average paced, perhaps wouldn't mind that much if he's counted to tuck in the midfield in the build up to have occasional timed run up the pitch

He would be better off with slightly less talent that he has something of for a little bit of speed which he would need to play in the Premier League

Where have I argued his attacking abilities aren't his strongest attributes? I haven't. I said his defensive position and pace isn't what's needed of a modern day full back, so like Martinez, he'd also get outpaced by wingers, like I saw when I watched him plenty of times for Preston last season.

Wouldn’t mind giving him a chance but I have serious doubts if he will ever become a PL LB due to his lack of athleticism.

He seems to have Daley Blind kind of speed. Not sure if he has the positional awareness to make up for that.

In my personal opinion he might not have future with us, unless his stamina gets better and gets faster for a full back.

He lacks a bit of pace and struggles 1v1.

He doesn't seems like he's quick enough or that he suit for a positional based team.

And so on.

And the context for us is our manager commenting on our struggles with physicality pretty much every week, the club reportedly looking to specifically raise the athletic levels of the team, and both the fullbacks we've signed and been most strongly linked with (Leon and Dorgu) not-coincidentally being much better athletes.

Alvaro has always had quality, but he just isn't the profile of player we're looking for to improve a team everyone can see is physically lightweight.
 
I’m not sure where this lack of physicality thing is coming from but he certainly hasn’t shown to be lacking it tonight.
Seems to be one of those things that just gets repeated so much it becomes true. I've never agreed with it, even when he was with us/on loan and it was a common mantra.

He doesn't have the top speed of the real elites like Davies, Mendes etc but he does have a good burst of acceleration, he's one of the most aerially dominant full-backs around and he's in the Top 10 in Europe for average distance covered per game this season. He's also 6'2 at this point, judging him beside Lewandowski tonight. If he fills out that frame a bit he could be a real dominant athlete.

Also doesn't miss games despite the workload he gets through.
 
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