Portuguese pundits doubt Slavia defender is the right fit for Benfica

Portuguese experts have questioned whether Slavia Prague defender Igor Chaloupek fits the profile Benfica is looking for as it eyes potential reinforcements at the back. The comments came from commentator Robles during a discussion programme on the Portuguese sports outlet A Bola.

"Chaloupek isn't the kind of player you can look at and immediately say he'd be a genuine fit for Benfica," Robles said. According to him, it's better to leave the assessment of the Czech defender's professional qualities to the club's head of scouting, since little is known about him so far: the player is 23 years old and played a match against South Korea at the recent World Cup.

Benfica's interest in the Slavia defender stems from the near-finalised departure of key defender António Silva to England's Bournemouth. According to reports, the Premier League club will pay 25 million euros (roughly 625 million koruna) for him, with the deal expected to close in the coming days.

However, Robles believes Chaloupek can't be considered an equivalent replacement for Silva. "Central defence is a key position when building a team. Benfica's management said a big-name signing was on the way for the centre-back position — someone with experience and leadership qualities. But the days keep passing, and no such player has materialised. Now Chaloupek's name has come up. I don't believe he's the one Benfica are looking at as Silva's replacement," the pundit noted.

In his view, if the Czech defender is signed after all, it will most likely be as cover in case of injuries to the first-choice centre-backs or for rotation purposes given the demanding schedule awaiting the Portuguese giants.

"That seems like a sensible move to me. Benfica don't want to repeat the mistake of recent seasons, when they had only three centre-backs at their disposal plus one youth academy graduate in that position," the Portuguese expert concluded.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz