Who is Benfica star Ruben Dias?

Benfica have managed to produce some of the best talents in world football throughout the years, and one of them seems to be the emerging centre-back, Ruben Dias.

Dias is a 23-year-old defender that had been in Benfica's academy since he was 11, and has since then become one of the Portuguese club's most important players.

Dias made his professional debut on September 2017, in a Primeira Liga match against Boavista, and then went on to solidify the position and make it his own for the next two months. Among some very impressive performances, there were two games in which he shone the most, the two UEFA Champions League group stage games against Manchester United.

However, Dias would end up having to undergo surgery for appendicitis and miss a month of football, after which he had to work hard to regain his place once again.

Since then, he has become an integral part of Benfica's defence, and eventually made his debut in an international friendly on May 2018 against Tunisia. He would go on to make the World Cup squad, but he did not feature in any of Portugal's games. He did however win the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League, playing in the finals of the competition.

This season, Dias has impressed on numerous occasions, attracting the interest of Lyon, which prompted him to sign a new contract with Benfica which would keep him at the club until 2023.

When taking a look at stats, Dias has barely been dribbled past, maintaining an average of being dribbled past just 0.3 times per Primeira Liga game. He is also a brilliant passer of the ball, having an 88.8% pass accuracy and managing 5.3 long palls per game.

The Portuguese international is not bad going forward either, getting on the scoresheet on three occasions this season in all competitions.

Currently, Dias is valued at £27m, and he could be a steal for any top club that is looking for a relatively cheap centre-back in the coming transfer window, despite still having three years left on his contract.