Pedro Santos renews until 2028

BTV REPORT

Midfielder/forward Pedro Santos, 21, has renewed his contract with Sport Lisboa e Benfica until 2028.

“An important career milestone”, which at the same time “brings great responsibilities” – that's how Pedro Miguel da Costa Santos sees this step. “I hope I'm up to the challenge. I'm very happy,” the player told BTV.

Born on February 10, 2003, he joined Benfica at the start of the 2014/15 season from Fiães SC. He then joined the Aveiro Training Center, completing the first of nine seasons with the eagle on his chest.

The following season he returned to his roots - Fiães SC - and a year later, in 2016/17, he made the definitive leap to Benfica Campus.

Since then, he has completed stages and climbed up the ranks, with several titles in between. In 2018/19 he became a U-17 national champion, but it was in 2022 that he experienced his most glorious year to date.

Domestically, he played an important role in the 2021/22 U-19 national title, while abroad he was part of the U19 squad that led Benfica to the Youth League title. In the final against Salzburg in Nyon on April 25, 2022, Pedro Santos didn't score any of the six goals for the Reds, but he provided two assists. It is this success that the left-footed player highlights, stressing that it is "an international competition" and that it was "the first for Benfica" at that level.

Before that, in December 2021, on the 14th, the midfielder/forward, who was 18 at the time, made his first of 61 appearances for Benfica's B team in Liga 2, in a match in his hometown of Aveiro against Académico de Viseu.

In the current season (2023/24), Pedro Santos has already made 31 appearances for Benfica B, 30 of them in Liga 2 and one in the Premier League International Cup. In those matches in the national competition, he scored three times against Tondela, Belenenses and Marítimo.

As a result of his good performances, Pedro Santos was voted Best Young Player in December in Liga 2, a distinction awarded by the Players' Union.

His good performances with an eagle on his chest have not left national team officials indifferent. From the Under-18s to the Under-21s, Pedro Santos has made 18 international appearances so far. The highlight of his almost two dozen appearances for the national teams came in his last match for the Under-21s. Pedro Santos scored a hat-trick in Portugal's 5-1 win over Croatia in a qualifying match for the 2025 European Championship in Slovakia.

As for the future, although he's “thinking about the present”, his “goal” is clear: “It's to reach the Sport Lisboa e Benfica first team.”