Benfica are willing to "do everything" to convince Nottingham Forest summer target Alejandro Grimaldo to extend his stay at the club, according to reports in Portugal.
The left-back is out of contract at the end of the season, meaning he is now able to hold talks with overseas clubs about a potential free transfer move when the summer window opens. It was reported this week that Forest have held talks with the player over a possible move.
Grimaldo is Benfica’s first choice left-back and has been in good form in recent weeks, providing four assists in his last four league games, including two in Sunday’s 3-0 away win over Maritimo. He also provided an assist in the midweek 5-1 Champions League win over Club Brugge, with Benfica coming out as 7-1 winners on aggregate to book themselves a place in the quarter-final.
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Benfica are keen not to lose the player this summer, with reports in Portugal now claiming that the club are ready to make an attempt to convince Grimaldo to commit his future to the club. O Jogo (via SportWitness ) claim that the Portuguese club are ‘preparing’ a final offer to the player.
It is added that president Rui Costa is the person charged with convincing the player to extend his stay, with the chief willing to ‘do everything’ including increasing the players salary and signing on bonus in order to make sure that happens. If Benfica are successful, it will close the door on the possibility of Forest signing the full-back in the summer.
Forest are reportedly joined by fellow Premier League side Fulham in their interest in the left-back ahead of the summer transfer window. Nice, Real Sociedad, Valencia, Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen have all also been linked with an interest in the player.
He will be next in action when Benfica take on Vitoria SC in the Primeira Liga on Saturday (6pm kick off), as the Portuguese side look to extend their lead at the top of the table.
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