Record transfer earnings and increased buying budget for the Orlovs, as well as better bets ahead of the first leg of the Champions League play-off round Dynamo Kyiv – Benfica
For the second time this year, Dynamo crosses paths with the Portuguese Benfica in the Champions League. True, in 2021 the teams met at the group stage of the tournament, now in the playoff round of the qualification. A year ago, Dynamo held a home match in Kyiv (draw 0:0), now they have to play in Polish Lodz. In 2021, Benfica was managed by José Jesus, now by Roger Schmidt. But, like a year ago, Benfica is considered the favorite of the match, and of the entire confrontation. If we take into account only the financial component of the fights, it becomes clear why.
46.8 million euros have been spent by Benfica in this transfer window. This is 21 million more than last summer, when the Eagles “cost” only 25.5 million euros. Interestingly, Benfica’s most expensive summer acquisitions over the past year are related to Ukraine: in the summer of 2021, the Eagles bought Ukrainian national team forward Roman Yaremchuk from Ghent for 17 million euros, and most recently, they bought David Neres from Shakhtar, who, however, did not play for Miners not a single official match.
On the other hand, the Eagles earned twice as much on transfers this summer as they did a year ago. Benfica earned €106.3m from player sales during this transfer window, up from €49.5m last summer. In 2021, the most expensive sale of the club was the Brazilian Pedrinho, who left for Shakhtar for 18 million euros, now it is the Uruguayan Darwin Nunez, who moved to Liverpool for 75 million.
Transfermarkt sets Benfica’s squad up to €245.8m. Compared to last season, the Orlov roster has fallen in price by more than 40 million – then the Benfica squad was estimated at 286.5 million euros. It should be noted that the price of Dynamo also fell by 25 million: 106.2 million this season against 133 million last.
Last summer, Benfica’s most expensive player was Rafael Silva, whose transfer fee was estimated at 23 million euros. Over the year, the Spaniard has become older and “cheaper” by three million. And the status of the most expensive player Orlov moved to Julian Weigl – 22 million euros. The most expensive player in Dynamo is Viktor Tsygankov, 25 million euros.
At the same time, Benfica has 11 players whose transfer value is 10 million euros or more, Dynamo has three such players (except for Tsygankov, this is Zabarny – 15 million and Shaparenko – 10 million). There are four players in the Orlov roster worth 20+ million euros: in addition to Weigl and Silva, these are Neres and Grimaldo – 20 million euros each.
€650 million is Benfica’s net income from transfers alone over the last 15 years. At the same time, the total earnings of the Orlovs on transfers during this period amounted to 1.3 billion euros.
A year ago, however, in the first round of the Champions League group stage, Benfica was also considered the favorite of the confrontation. True, then the difference in odds was not so impressive: in the fall of 2021, Dynamo’s chances of winning the match in Kyiv were estimated at 1×3.4, and the odds for the Portuguese to win was 1×2.36. Right now Dynamo win bets – 1×5.2, for Benfica to win – 1.76, a draw is estimated at 1×4.05.
Dynamo Kyiv
Playoff qualification. The first match
17.08
22:00
Benfica
Source: Sportarena
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
