Former Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran is set to join Benfica on loan from Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
Duran is expected to seal a season-long move to the Portuguese giants, where he would work with Marco Silva, who left Fulham this summer to take over at the Primeira Liga side.
The 22-year-old, who made the lucrative move to Saudi Arabia from Villa in January 2025, is set for another loan exit after teaming up with first Turkish side Fenerbahce then Russians Zenit St Petersburg for the second half of last season.
Striker's career set for another twist
Reports in Portugal suggest a deal is virtually agreed for the forward to join Benfica and he will add considerable presence to the frontline at the Estadio da Luz, where he will hope to rediscover his best goalscoring form.
It is thought Al-Nassr are willing to subsidise the vast majority of his sizeable salary in order to allow the switch to go ahead, and Duran is believed to be desperate to sort out a return to Europe after struggling to settle in Saudi Arabia.
Impressive Al-Nassr goal record
Even though the Colombia international has been keen to seek another move away from Al-Nassr, he has a fine record for the Saudi Arabian outfit, scoring 12 goals in 18 appearances.
However, he joined Fener last summer and went on to make 21 appearances, scoring five times, before injury kept him on the sidelines for a few months.
He then made the switch to Zenit at the start of the year, though, and things did not go as well there, Duran scoring just two goals in nine appearances for the Russian side.
Duran was somewhat surprisingly left out of the Colombia squad for this summer's World Cup and a desire to earn a recall to his national team could also be one of the reasons why he is keen for a move back to Europe.
Villa spell showed potential
After catching the eye in MLS with Chicago Fire, Duran made the move to Villa in a deal worth around £18million in January 2023, and he was being talked about as a real star of the future after initially impressing in the Premier League.
Duran managed 20 goals in 78 appearances in all competitions for the West Midlands side before abruptly leaving for Al-Nassr early in 2025.
Rejuvenation under Silva?
The much-travelled striker will now hope for a settled period under former Cottagers chief Silva in the coming campaign.
With 56 club career goals under his belt from just over 200 appearances, Duran is a proven goalscorer so Benfica, who finished third in Portugal last season, will benefit if he thrives in Lisbon.
Silva's side, who beat Spanish team Villarreal 2-0 in a pre-season friendly on Friday, are 2/1 to win the Portuguese top flight in 2026-27, behind champions Porto, who are 7/4 to retain the trophy, while Sporting CP are also rated 2/1 chances.
This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
