Future Stars – Benfica’s New Wonderkid André Horta

At the start of the summer Benfica lost Renato Sanches to Bayern Munich and this left a gap in their midfield. The Portuguese giants quickly found a replacement and signed 19-year old midfielder André Horta from Vitória de Setúbal.

Horta was born in Almada which is south of Lisbon and he spent 8 years in Benfica’s academy before moving to Vitória de Setúbal in 2014. He was given his first-team debut in December 2014 by Domingos Paciência against Boavista. The midfielder went on to make a further five appearances during the course of the season of which four were starts.

Under new manager Quim Machado, he quickly established himself as a first team regular during the 2015/16 season. The diminutive midfielder operated as a box-to-box midfielder in Machado’s preferred 4-4-2 formation but also played in a more advanced role operating as a support striker to Salim Cissé. He played 32 games of which 21 were starts and contributed towards five goals.

His impressive performances for Vitória de Setúbal in the Liga NOS led Benfica to bring him back to his boyhood club. Horta continued with the same high level of performance during pre-season and he has quickly established himself at the heart of midfield. The 5″6 midfielder scored a special goal on his league debut in second half stoppage time, as he dribbled past three defenders with ease before firing past goalkeeper Cláudio Ramos. His celebration showed what his first goal for Benfica meant and it also cost him a yellow card.

Horta has quickly established himself as first choice and has started all four games for Benfica as they look to retain their Primeira Liga title. There is no doubt that he will continue with his impressive performances and it won’t be long before he catches the attention of some of Europe’s biggest clubs.