Gedson Fernandes may have fallen behind Adel Taarabt in the Benfica pecking order but this move could reignite his career and Spurs’ midfield


Of all the boxes ticked by Gedson Fernandes, one looks especially relevant as Jose Mourinho seeks to retool Tottenham Hotspur’s midfield on the fly.

It goes beyond his jack-of-all-trades skill set, and the potential that convinced Benfica to set his release clause at €120 million when he was still in his teens. Above all, Fernandes offers the promise of a quick fix – a ready-made solution to Spurs’ chronic lack of urgency in the centre of the pitch.

The theory is that Fernandes, whose parents have lived in London for the last few years, should settle quickly in the English capital. And while adapting to the sound and fury of Premier League football will be a greater test, this is a player who is used to being dropped in at the deep end.

Take his first few games at senior level. His debut came in a high-pressure Champions League play-off against Fenerbahce in August 2018. The return leg in Turkey, with Benfica just 1-0 up from the Lisbon leg, was only his third senior match, but it didn’t show: Fernandes ran the game with veteran swagger, scoring the first-half goal that would take Benfica through. Within the space of a week, a star was born.

“It pleases me to see a 19-year-old kid with the ability to play at this level,” said their then-coach Rui Vitoria. The Portuguese press was similarly enthused. “Gedson was not just the lungs of the side,” swooned the Diario de Noticias. “He had the talent and courage to drive the team forward, and made good decisions. It already looks he could be a big deal.”

The power brokers at the Estadio da Luz clearly agreed. Two weeks later, he signed a new five-year deal. The contract included that buyout clause – the highest ever imposed by a Portuguese club.

Benfica are masters of the transfer market, but that is some mark-up, even for them. Fernandes had first arrived at the club as a 10-year-old, after being spotted by scouts while playing for Frielas, a neighbourhood outfit based just outside Lisbon. City rivals Sporting – Fernandes’ favourite club – were also interested at the time, but an offer of €250 and 25 footballs swung things in Benfica’s favour.

Fernandes was a striker at the time. He was competitive, confident and gifted. Sometimes he would drop back to receive the ball from the goalkeeper before slaloming through to score. “It was almost like he didn’t need a team around him,” Paulo Sergio, the Frielas president, later recalled. “He would decide matches on his own.”

At Benfica, his physical development led to a rethink about his position. At the start, he would play wide on the right, or even as a full-back, his bounding stride carrying him up and down the wing. He eventually settled in central midfield, where his quick feet, determination and eye for a pass came to the fore. The buzz of anticipation accompanied him, growing louder as he progressed through the age categories and into the B team. Some compared him to Renato Sanches – the prodigious, world-at-his-feet version, before those misadventures with Bayern Munich and Swansea City.

Fernandes’ Champions League auditions kickstarted an impressive run in the side. Paired with Pizzi and Ljubomir Fejsa in a three-man midfield, the youngster was usually at the centre of the action, breaking up opposition attacks and helping to drive Benfica forward in possession. The fans loved his desire, and his willingness to spray passes out to the wings. Nobody was surprised when Portugal coach Fernando Santos handed him a debut before the Christmas.

Despite early excitement, however, he has struggled to kick on over the last 12 months. Injuries have disrupted his progress. He also lost a cheerleader in the dressing room when Vitoria was sacked last January. Successor Bruno Lage has been more sniffy about his ability: Fernandes only started three league games in the whole of 2019, and tumbled ever further down the pecking order.

It is true Lage’s system did him few favours: Benfica have been playing with two up front, meaning there were only two spots available in central midfield. Nor should the final nail in Fernandes’ coffin – this month’s arrival of Julian Weigl from Borussia Dortmund – reflect too badly on him. Of more concern to Tottenham fans will be the fact that, in the first half of this season, one of the players preferred by Lage in the Benfica engine room was Adel Taarabt — a Tottenham predecessor dubbed the “worst professional I have ever come across” and “three-stone overweight” by his former Spurs and Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp.

Indeed, for all Fernandes’ obvious potential, it is revealing that there was no real outcry at his departure. Benfica are happy to let him go; they will be even happier if Tottenham end up exercising the option to buy him for €50 million at the end of his 18-month loan spell. That would be an incredible fee to receive for an out-of-favour player. Not for nothing did Portuguese sport newspaper Record’s columnist Rui Calafate suggest that agent Jorge Mendes deserves a statue for brokering this deal.

None of which is to say that this move will not pay off for Spurs as well. Providing Fernandes can recapture his best form, he will add energy and craft to a midfield that desperately needs it. He is an all-rounder, and while that description can often sound like faint praise, it gives Mourinho a flexible, pliable option.

If Fernandes can repay his new manager’s faith, this could end up being the rarest of transfers: one that ends up benefiting all parties.