Antonio Silva has rejected Benfica’s offer of a new contract.
Fabrizio Romano reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the 22-year-old defender ‘will now assess offers’ ahead of a potential exit this summer.
Liverpool reportedly held the centre-half on a five-man shortlist to bolster the defence ahead of the January window this year.
Liverpool have often presented themselves as a club with an eye for market opportunities.
With Silva now opting not to extend his stay in Portugal – on a contract that expires in a year – surely this now qualifies as one such favourable deal our recruitment could take advantage of?
🚨🇵🇹 Antonio Silva has decided to reject Benfica new deal proposal and will now assess offers to leave the club this summer.
Decision made with his agent Jorge Mendes, as Record reported. 🔴👋🏼
Proposals to be considered from now on. pic.twitter.com/m2iiVi4v7m
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 13, 2026
Realistically, we know that our current complement of centre-backs won’t be enough to get us through an entire campaign.
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Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet, though both exciting projects, are just coming back from injury, while Joe Gomez’s record in this department is far from unblemished.
So, in our minds, Liverpool could really do with another reliable option following Ibrahima Konate’s switch to Real Madrid on a free transfer.
It wasn’t so long ago that various reports were talking up Antonio Silva as a potential £80m-plus signing.
With a year to go on his current terms, however, we’d have to reasonably imagine that Benfica would struggle to demand much more than half that amount. Certainly, given their own financial constraints in the Portuguese top-flight, we just can’t see the Eagles opting to allow their young centre-back to run down his contract and risk losing a major fee.
From Liverpool’s perspective, the appeal is obvious. The defender already has over 150 senior appearances (181) in all competitions for Benfica and has serious quality on the ball.
* Antonio Silva’s stats in the 2025/26 season in the Primeira Liga (Fotmob)
Our one major concern? He’s significantly shorter than Ibrahima Konate (6′ 4″), standing at 6′ 1″, and this would appear to have at least some bearing on his aerial threat. His aerial duel win rate last term, for instance, ranked in the 50th percentile (58.7%) per 90 in the Portuguese top-flight.
And that really doesn’t compare favourably to our former No.5’s average of 71.3% in the Premier League last term.
Will that put an inordinate amount of pressure on his defensive partner in a Premier League that’s increasingly defined by physicality? Quite possibly, but Liverpool’s recruitment may judge Silva’s on-ball value as being worth the risk.
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