March Silva ruled out the scenario of Gianluca Prestianni leaving in the winter market, in January, after Benfica’s victory against Celtic (4-1), in a match on the 2nd round of the Europa League league stage. At a press conference, the Eagles’ coach was asked if he would ask Rui Costa to keep the player in the next transfer window and ended up being categorical.
“Prestianni is our player, he has a long contract with us and he is doing things very well. There is nothing to think about here. Our fans are recognizing him, and very well, because they understand not only the quality, but also the work, they recognize who works hard for the club and what he has done”, began by saying Marco Silva, highlighting the consistency of the Argentine winger, who yesterday added two more assists.
“It’s been a great start for Prestianni. In terms of our peace of mind and having him with us, we have to be satisfied when we have players of this quality to work with. I, as a coach, am satisfied. I know that he is also very focused on his day to day life, on his work, he really wants to win with this shirt. Therefore, there is no need to have any conversations with the president, because I don’t think it’s necessary at the moment. If the president thinks it’s important for us to talk, we normally talk about everything that’s going on around us, but at this moment, we don’t there is absolutely no need,” he explained.
The Benfica coach took advantage of the duel with Celtic to make some changes to the eleven, highlighting the entry of Trubin, replacing Samuel Soares, as had already happened in the visit to AC Milan. Marco Silva argued that this is a test of confidence in the two goalkeepers.
“If I had confidence in just one, the other wouldn’t play. It’s obvious that Trubin, and you know, had three seasons of playing constantly. It was a technical decision for us to change and start giving Samu (Samuel Soares) an opportunity, but Trubin is a player more than used to big stages, he has international experience, and we chose, since we entered the league phase of the Europa League, to give him the games in this competition. Whether it will continue like this or not, you have to wait and see. It was the decision I made for the first two games”, he highlighted.
“We’ll see if it will continue next week, but I can say that, at the moment, what’s on my mind is that he plays the next game. Until then I can change, training can also dictate something different, but that’s what I think at the moment. And it shows confidence in both. It doesn’t show insecurity or lack of confidence, it shows the opposite. I understand the point. Normally, it’s done in internal competitions, in the Cups, League Cup and Portuguese Cup. That could be done. Maybe, if I did it If I did, there weren’t any big questions here. Or maybe there were. Sometimes, when changes are made and the goalkeeper who comes in doesn’t go so well, it’s because he didn’t play the one who is usually the starter. In my opinion, it reflects confidence in both of them, not the other way around”, concluded Marco Silva.
