Nottingham Forest are said to be close to signing attacking midfielder David Tavares on loan from Benfica, as they step up preparations for the new Championship season.
The Reds have already brought in Jack Colback, Tyler Blackett, Lyle Taylor, Fouad Bachirou and Luke Freeman as they aim to go again with a promotion push.
And reports in Portugal suggest Tavares is set to make the move to the City Ground on loan.
But who is the promising youngster? We’ve taken a look.
What’s his career been like so far?
Still only 21, Tavares joined Benfica in 2016, after spending time at fellow Portuguese outfits AC Tojal, Loures and Sporting Lisbon early on.
He has since come up through the ranks at the club and, according to the official website, “quickly showed his footballing quality, strength, pace and passing ability in the Under-19s”.
He played a key role as Benfica became national champions in the youth division in 2018, the first time they had won that title for five years.
That summer, Tavares took part in pre-season training with the first-team, only for a serious ankle injury to rule him out for a lengthy period and hinder his progression.
Nevertheless, he went on to be promoted to the senior set-up last summer.
How has that step up gone?
Well, it started off pretty well.
Playing a friendly against Liverpool, he is said to have caught the eye of Jurgen Klopp, which led to rumours of a potential switch to Anfield.
The Premier League giants faced Benfica in a friendly before last year’s Champions League final, with Tavares putting in a fine performance.
O Jogo reported at the time that Liverpool scouts were impressed by his “physicality and aggression in midfield” and “his tackling ability was also said to have caught the eye”.
A move did not materialise, but Tavares went on to make his Benfica debut in the Champions League.
He came off the bench for the final 20 minutes of a 2-1 home defeat to RB Leipzig last September.
That has proved to be his sole first-team appearance so far, though he did feature 11 times for the B team last term.
What’s happened since then?
With a real breakthrough into the senior side proving tough, Tavares is said to not be in the plans of boss Jorge Jesus for the upcoming campaign.
That has led to speculation a loan switch to the City Ground could be in the offing.
Anything else?
Tavares has represented Portugal at various youth levels, most recently with the Under-19s.
In May, he became the eighth player in Portugal’s Primerira Liga to test positive for coronavirus.
And although the young player has struggled to make an impact for Benfica’s senior side, reports suggest when he signed a new contract until 2024, the club inserted a staggering 66m euros release clause.
