Newcastle looking to sign Benfica midfielder Andreas Samaris

Rafa Benitez is once again actively pursuing Benfica's out of favour defensive midfielder Andreas Samaris - but this time, he may actually get him.

As was the case last summer, Benitez is extremely keen on bringing in the Greek international, who has played just 95 minutes of league football so far this season.

Ninety of those minutes came in Benfica's last Primeira Liga outing, where Samaris completed the entirety of Benfica's clash with Guimarães. 

However, Samaris has been overlooked by the Portuguese club for a while now, having mainly served as a bench player for Benfica for the past two seasons.

Benitez's interest in the 29-year old is no secret, the Spanish manager attempting to sign Samaris last summer - and the summer before that too. However, no deal materialised on either occasion. 

Now though, with Bruno Lage currently in the Benfica hotseat, that may be about to change.

As TVI reported, Lage needs to decide whether he wants to keep the backup defensive midfielder and give him a new contract, or alternatively let him go, a decision which is expected to be made by the end of the week. 

If Lage does decide that Samaris is surplus to requirements, Newcastle are expected to be the leading candidates to sign him for approximately 8 million euros. 

19-year old Florentino Luis, currently part of the B team, is then anticipated to be promoted to the Benfica senior team.