Official: Benfica confirm the signing of Real Madrid’s http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ezequiel-Garay-c13071 – Report
Portuguese side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Real-c30728 Madrid stopper, Ezequiel Garay. The Argentine International was a peripheral figure at the Bernabeu last season and only managed to make five appearances due to the dominance
of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Defence-c38904.
Although his services were scarcely utilized by Jose Mourinho, his talents and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Skills-c40539 remain undoubted. The 24-year-old made his name while playing with Racing Santander and rose to fame after exhibiting a very high goalscoring rate for a player in his position.
Scoring a remarkable 9 goals in only 32 appearances for Los Montañeses in only his first full season, he finished the 2006/2007 campaign as the second highest scorer in the centre-back role in Europe.
His performances lifted several eyebrows in the footballing fraternity of several countries, but the Rosario-born stalwart chose to stay in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Spain-c3011 and signed for La Liga giants in 2008. Although the move was an initially a permanent one, the Whites loaned
him back to Racing for a season.
After his spell, he featured 23 times for Los Blancos and even managed to make it to the score sheet once. Under the tenure of Jose Mourinho, however, he mainly spent his time on the sidelines as the fourth choice behind the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Sergio-Ramos-c33096.
The Madrid-based club were eager to sell the player, who was deprived of game time and used him as a make-weight in the €30 million deal for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fabio-c13152 Coentrao. Although initially reluctant to part-ways with their prized asset, Benfica finally agreed to let
Coentrao leave after Real offered a player in their proposal as well.
Originally it was rumoured that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Royston-Drenthe-c31824 would be the one to move to Estadio da Luz, but the Dutchman refused to comply with his employer’s demand, paving the way for Garay’s transfer.
Although the switch would be seen as a step-downward, the Sky Blue International will only benefit from playing with the Eagles, as he would be allowed a string of regular matches to prove his mettle.
His move would also be a blessing in disguise for Benfica, as they have lacked defensive cover since Coentrao’s departure. Furthermore, with Luisao also being linked with Paris Saint-Germain, the Lisbon outfit would greatly benefit from his addition to the
squad.
While he is mostly noted for his feats in the attacking third, Garay has proved himself as a capable defender with a great attitude but it remains to be seen whether he can replicate his goalscoring feats from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Racing-c40298 Santander.
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