Two rejected proposals move player linked to Benfica away from Premier League
Glorioso 1904 – Se é notícia do Benfica, está aqui26 August 2026 at 16:10
The 24-year-old English central defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis was the subject of two rejected offers from Aston Villa to Southampton, in a process that involved a final offer of 24 million euros, when the "Saints" wanted around 29 million. Harwood-Bellis, who came through the youth ranks at Manchester City and was loaned to various clubs, was also linked to Benfica as a potential replacement for António Silva, but the Eagles' interest cooled after the signing of Alessandro Circati. Following the failure of the operation, Aston Villa turned to Ecuadorian defender Joel Ordóñez from Club Brugge to fill the void left by Ezri Konsa's move to Arsenal.
SC Braga secured a goalless draw away to Austria Wien in Vienna, ensuring progression to the next phase of the Europa Conference League. In the second leg, the Portuguese team recorded only one shot on target, committed 34 fouls without receiving any cards, and managed the result to secure qualification.
Benfica secured qualification for the league phase of the Europa League by beating Aarhus 3-1 in Denmark, repeating the result from the first leg. The goals were scored by Prestianni (two) and Rafa, while Carstensen scored for the Danish team. The league phase draw will take place in Monaco on Friday.
The "Minho warriors" drew zero-all in Vienna against an Austrian team, a result sufficient to guarantee passage to the league phase of the Europa League Conference, after they won the first leg 2-0.
André Villas-Boas, president of FC Porto, considered the Champions League draw as "always difficult", but argued that the weight of the dragons' history demands a good campaign in the European competition.
