Benfica to complete signing of Real Madrid striker

Benfica are on the verge of bringing in a new striker shortly after learning of the news that Joao Felix is set to depart.

Benfica have been working hard to get this deal done for some time now, but they are finally set to get it over the line.

The player, Raul de Tomas, is currently on the books of Real Madrid, although he has only ever played for Real Madrid once having come through their youth academy.

However, he did have a highly successful loan spell at Rayo Vallecano last season, where he found the back of the net 14 times in 33 La Liga appearances.

That is perhaps made even more impressive when you consider that Rayo Vallecano finished in 20th place in the league last season; to score 14 goals for a side that end up getting relegated tells you all you need to know about his qualities - and you would imagine that in a better side his goal return would only improve.

He spent the season earlier at Rayo Vallecano too when his side were in La Liga 2, and his return was understandably even better, getting 24 goals in 32 appearances.

Real Madrid were believed to be looking to get €25million for the 24-year old Spaniard, a fee which would have made him Benfica's most expensive signing in history.

The current record stands at 22 million euros, when they bought the full economic rights of Raul Jimenez, who they signed from Atletico Madrid in 2015.

However, Benfica are expected to conclude the deal for just 20 milion euros, leaving Jimenez’s record intact, and instead making de Tomas the 2nd most expensive signing in Benfica’s history.

Raul de Tomas. Taken from www.realvalladolid.es. License link.