Saudi club Al-Nassr has neared an agreement with Portuguese club Benfica over the loan of its Colombian striker John Duran for the 2026-2027 season, a move aimed at giving the player a new opportunity in European stadiums, while Al-Aalami retains his contractual rights.

Related news

Portuguese media reports revealed that negotiations between the two clubs have reached advanced stages, after Duran expressed his agreement to move to Benfica, and even showed readiness to reduce his salary to complete the deal, as he wishes to work under coach Marco Silva, despite receiving offers from other European clubs.

According to newspapers Record and O Jogo, the main remaining point in the negotiations concerns the mechanism for distributing the player's salary, with Al-Nassr expected to bear part of his annual salary, while Benfica covers the other part, without revealing the contribution percentage of each side.

The negotiations are moving towards completing a one-season loan deal, including a non-obligatory purchase option, giving the Portuguese club an opportunity to evaluate the player before making a final decision on signing him permanently.

As part of Benfica's efforts to finalize the deal, the Portuguese club's general manager Mario Branco traveled to the Middle East to hold direct meetings with Al-Nassr officials, amid optimism within the club that the file will be closed in the coming days, paving the way for Duran to join the team's training before the start of the new season.

The player's salary is one of the biggest challenges to reaching the agreement, as Duran receives approximately 20 million euros annually under his contract with Al-Nassr, which runs until summer 2030, an amount that exceeds the usual financial ceiling within Benfica, prompting all parties to find a suitable formula for sharing the salary, in addition to the player's agreement to reduce part of his dues.

Al-Nassr's willingness to bear part of its striker's salary is not seen as a concession on the player, but rather a step aimed at preserving his market value, especially as he has been out of the team's plans recently.

Al-Nassr had signed John Duran from Aston Villa in January 2025 for about 77 million euros, making it one of the most expensive deals in Saudi league history. Despite his good start, scoring 12 goals in 18 matches, the player did not stay long with the team, as he was loaned out to Turkish club Fenerbahçe, then to Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg, making Benfica a candidate to be his fourth stop since leaving the English Premier League.

Al-Nassr officials believe that the player's move to a club of Benfica's stature could help him regain his form and his technical and marketing value, while keeping the possibility of recalling him in the future if the Portuguese club does not activate the purchase clause.

The player's stance also played an important role in the progress of negotiations, as he insisted on the option of moving to Benfica and rejected other offers, while Italian reports indicated that his name was previously offered to Juventus and was among Bologna's interests, before the Portuguese club moved more seriously to finalize the deal.