Bournemouth have signed defender, Antonio Silva from Benfica for a £25.68m transfer fee.
Silva’s move came after Benfica greenlit the transfer following their Second Qualifying Round comeback victory over St Gallen in the UEFA Europa League on Thursday evening (30 July), having won the second leg 5-0 to eliminate the Swiss club 6-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 first-leg loss.
Bournemouth had initially hoped to sign Silva earlier in the month but respected Benfica’s request to have the 22 year-old centre-back involved in both legs of the tie, of which he started in both games in his final appearances for the Portuguese club.
Benfica subsequently greenlit the transfer following completion of the tie which will see Bournemouth pay a £25.68m total fee, which consisted of a £21.4m fixed fee plus £4.28m in add-ons, with Silva’s contract at Benfica having been set to expire in June 2027.
Silva has signed a five-year contract at Bournemouth until June 2031………………
“I am very happy to be here. It’s a pleasure to play for Bournemouth and in the Premier League. I can’t wait to start the season with my teammates and I’m excited to be here.
“The mentality is always to win. I will try my best, and I will play for the fans. We have everything here that helps us perform on the pitch, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Bournemouth’s President of Football Operations, Tiago Pinto added: “António is a player we have admired for a long time and we’re delighted to welcome him to AFC Bournemouth.
“Despite being only 22, he has already built an outstanding level of experience at one of Europe’s biggest clubs, playing consistently in domestic, European and international competitions. Those experiences have helped shape him into a defender with real maturity and leadership qualities.
“He is ambitious, has a proven winning mentality and knows what it takes to compete for trophies. Those are the characteristics we want to bring into this football club as we continue to build a squad capable of competing at the highest level.
“We’re excited to see António continue his development here under Marco Rose and we’re confident he’ll be an excellent addition to the group.”
Silva began his career in the youth setups of Viseu United, Penalva do Castelo then Repesenses before he joined Benfica in 2016, where he graduated through their academy to make his senior debut in a 3-0 away victory over Boavista in the Primera Liga in August 2022.
He has since gone on to score 10 goals in 183 senior appearances for Benfica across five seasons in which he won four titles; having won the Supertaca Candido de Olivera titles in 2023 & 25, plus 2022-23 Primera Liga and 2024-25 Taca da Liga titles respectively.
- 2 x Supertaca Candido de Oliveira (2023, 2025)
- 1 x Primera Liga (2022-23
- 1 x Taca da Liga (2024-25)
Silva represents Portugal at international level with 20 caps in total since he made his senior debut in a a 4-0 friendly win over Nigeria in November 2022, which came as a warm-up for the 2022 FIFA World Cup where he made one appearance in a 2-1 group-stage loss to South Korea.
He also was involved in Portugal’s Euro 2024 campaign and title-winning 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign.
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