Is Claudio Echeverri signing for Benfica? Manchester City attacking midfielder seeking more game time – Football Whispers Index score

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Is Claudio Echeverri signing for Benfica? Manchester City attacking midfielder seeking more game time – Football Whispers Index score
Is Claudio Echeverri signing for Benfica? Photo by Iconsport/ Federico Titone / SOPA Images/Sipa USA/ Bruno de Carvalho / SOPA Images/Sipa USA

Claudio Echeverri looks set to leave Manchester City again on deadline day, this time on loan to Benfica.

The Argentine playmaker has struggled for regular minutes since returning to the Etihad and Enzo Maresca has left him out of every matchday squad so far this season.

Personal terms are reportedly already in place, with City and Benfica racing to get the loan and its option to buy finalised before the window shuts tonight.

The Football Whispers Index scores every transfer rumour across five weighted factors. Read how it works here.

Claudio Echeverri to Benfica rated ‘Very likely'

Claudio Echeverri to Benfica — Football Whispers Index
Football Whispers Index: Transfer predictor

Claudio Echeverri to Benfica

Very likely
Benfica have reportedly agreed personal terms with Echeverri and both clubs are working to close the loan before the window shuts.
Updated
Financial viability18 / 25
Buying club need12 / 20
Player motivation10 / 15
Selling club incentive14 / 20
Market momentum19 / 20
Financial viability18 / 25
  • Echeverri has two years left on his Manchester City contract, running to 30 June 2028.
  • Joao Palhinha is Benfica's top earner on €92,500 a week, the benchmark any incoming wage would sit against.
  • Transfermarkt and FotMob currently value Echeverri between €13m and €15m.
  • Benfica's football revenue sits above €230m a season.
Buying club need12 / 20
  • Georgiy Sudakov already holds Benfica's attacking midfield role, starting 17 of 22 league games last season with 4 goals and a 7.14 rating.
  • Gianluca Prestianni and Jakub Kaminski also occupy the wide forward positions Echeverri could play.
  • Echeverri managed just 130 minutes and one shot in the Bundesliga last season during his loan at Bayer Leverkusen.
  • Sudakov, Prestianni and Enzo Barrenechea already give Benfica's squad a strong South American development pipeline.
Player motivation10 / 15
  • Echeverri played only off the bench in Manchester City's three preseason friendlies this summer, against Inter, Atletico Madrid and a South Korea league select XI.
  • Nicolo Schira has reported Echeverri has agreed personal terms with Benfica on a contract running to 2031.
  • Fellow Argentines Enzo Barrenechea and Gianluca Prestianni are already inside Benfica's squad.
  • Echeverri has two goals and two assists in 31 appearances across three loan spells since leaving City for the first time in 2024.
Selling club incentive14 / 20
  • Enzo Maresca left Echeverri out of Manchester City's squad for the club's first competitive matches of the season.
  • This would be Echeverri's third loan away from City since his January 2024 move from River Plate, following spells at Bayer Leverkusen and Girona.
  • Manchester City signed Rayan Cherki from Lyon in June 2025 for the same attacking zone Echeverri operates in.
  • Real Betis and Sheffield United also opened talks to sign Echeverri on loan this summer before City moved toward Benfica.
Market momentum19 / 20
  • Fabrizio Romano reported Benfica are working on a loan move for Echeverri, building on Cesar Luis Merlo's original report.
  • Nicolo Schira has reported personal terms are agreed on a contract to 2031.
  • Argentine outlet Noticias Argentinas describe talks between the two clubs as being in their final stretch.
  • Merlo's reporting puts the move at roughly 90 percent complete as of 31 August.
The verdict84 / 100
Benfica have all but wrapped up personal terms with Claudio Echeverri and Manchester City are pushing the loan through before tonight's deadline, which is why the score sits deep in Very likely.
It happens if the loan and option-to-buy paperwork clears both clubs' desks before the 11pm cutoff.
It falls apart only if a documentation snag on deadline day stops the move being registered in time.

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Byron is a sports journalist based in South Africa. He has a Media degree from the University of Kwa Zulu Natal and has been writing football content since 2019. Byron is also a sports presenter with experience in radio particularly.

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