Man City Opinion: Citizens linked with Florentino Luis- a good choice?

According to renowned Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, Man City are interested in signing 19-year-old Benfica starlet Florentino Luis in the summer, as the Citizens continue their hunt for a long-term successor to the throne of Fernandinho.

Florentino was promoted to the Benfica’s senior team only in February earlier in the year and the Portuguese U20 star has made an instant impact in the Primeira Liga, putting himself on the radar of Man City with a series of impressive displays.

The 19-year-old has made a total of 9 senior appearances for Benfica in all competitions since making his debut a couple of months back.

As Man City plan a potential swoop for the highly-rated Benfica academy product, let us take a closer look at one of the emerging talents of Portuguese football- Benfica’s Florentino Luis.

Background

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, to parents of Angolan descent, Florentino Luis started playing at the youth level at lower division club Real S.C.before joining Benfica’s youth setup in 2010. He made his professional debut with Benfica’s reserve team in 2016, aged 18.

The 19-year-old has been a regular for Portugal upto the U20 level and has accumulated a total of 65 caps for his nation at all youth levels comprised.

Style of Play

Luis currently stands at 6ft., though one would expect him to gain a couple of inches more in the years to come. The youngster is primarily a defensive midfielder by trade and has earned plaudits very early in his career for his well-rounded attributes.

Luis excels in a role as a shield for the rearguard and sits deep inside in the central midfield zone to cut out the attacks with tackles and interceptions, though he often tends to press the opposition higher up the pitch to win possession back for his team.

An aggressive defensive midfielder by trade, the youngster has shown a level of maturity that belies his tenders years both in terms of decision-making and composure.

Tackling is one of his greatest strengths and it is amazing to see how such a young player consistently gets himself into the right positions to win the ball back with fair crunching challenges.

Quick across the ground and blessed with plenty of upper body strength, Luis not only excels with his tackling he is equally good at intercepting through balls as well, using his game-reading and positional sense to good effect.

Calm and comfortable in possession, Luis has a good range of passing as well and can keep things ticking in the midfield with his impressive distribution and uncompromised work-rate.

He has got all the makings of developing into a top-quality defensive midfielder and the most impressive thing about him is his ability to combine the different aspects of his game from such a young age.

What does the future hold?

Florentino Luis is a really talented player with loads of potential but it seems unlikely that he would be an ideal replacement for Fernandinho.

Still very much in the developmental phase of his career and relatively new to the Primeira Liga, a move to the Premier League, especially to a title-contending club like Man City, at this point of time, would be a massive jump for the youngster both in terms of quality and intensity.

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Even if a move materializes, it would be unrealistic to expect the youngster to fill in the boots of the veteran Brazilian in the upcoming season. Nevertheless, he is an exceptional talent who has the potential to carve out an identity for himself in any top European league.