Gustavo Varela, advanced from the Monza that interests Benfica (and not only), is the protagonist of the 78th edition of the heading ‘The rumor of the week’ from Sport to Minute, in which the arguments behind the biggest business in the market are analyzed in detail.
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25/10/2026
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Gustavo Varela is one of the most popular names of the new sports season of 2026/27 of italian football, with seven goals scored (and also an assist) after so many other journeys of Serie A, which puts him in second place of the list of best markers, just behind Antonio Raimundo, Frosinone (which already takes seven).
A record that hasn't gone unnoticed... to Benfica, who sold it in the past summer transfer market to Monza for an amount of EUR 2.5 million (plus bonuses), plus 20% of any amount included in a future sale and the possibility of equalising any proposal to recover it.
The direction led by Rui Costa will be seriously considering the possibility of rebuying the player of only 21 years of age, soon, this, at a time when his growth has also been accompanied, alongside and passing, by ‘colossos’ such as Arsenal or Napoli.
Is it already time for Gustavo Varela to return to the place where he was ‘born’ for football, in search of the effective opportunity he did not have? Or, instead, will you look for this authentic ‘explosion’ on transalpine soil to try to reach other levels? O Sports to Minute analyzes the pros and cons of this rumor.
Why can it happen?
Gustavo Varela had already made good use of the message, in the last time, when he was given to Gil Vicente and scored seven goals and gave so many others to score to the end of 33 games, but this proof of ability, at a level of greater demand, will hardly be followed by Benfica.
The confidence that the leadership led by Rui Costa maintains in the potential of the Portuguese-Caboverdian became evident with the caveat that made a point of including in the agreement with the Monza, with a view to a potential return to the Stadium of Light, so the news from ‘harassment’ does not end up surprising.
It is, yet, I must bear in mind that Vangelis Pavlidis has no guaranteed continuity as an eagle to the chest, as it is still referred to by some of the biggest clubs in European football, and Jhon Durán, the ‘plan B’, is borrowed by Al Nassr without purchase option, so a ‘hole’ can soon be opened in the incarnate attack.
Why can't it happen?
In five years of contractual connection to Benfica, Gustavo Varela had a single chance to play in the main team (on May 17, 2024, in a tie to a ball with the Ave River, when Roger Schmidt threw him to the place of Casper Tengstedt in the final moments), something he himself hardly forgot.
Although the Monza is not exactly a ‘heavy weight’ of Italian football, the truth is that it is signing a stable season start, a circumstance that gives the young promise the opportunity to continue to show itself continuously, something that possibly would not happen at the Stadium of Light.
It is also necessary to take into account the alleged interest of clubs such as Napoli or Arsenal, who would be able to present another type of sporting and financial arguments to an advanced who has a valid contract by June 2030, which would make a possible return to Portugal even more complicated.
Every week Sports to Minute presents a new edition of the heading ‘The rumor of the week’, which aims to analyze, in detail, the circumstances surrounding the most popular business in the transfer market.