Joshua Wynder at Benfica

Yeah, he started in a 1-0 win on Sunday, but was pulled at the half due to discomfort. After that, he was replaced on the u20 roster.

Frustrating.

 

Honestly, this is EXACTLY what I had hoped for... unfortunate that he got yanked at half while he was playing well over the weekend, but happy that it wasn't bad (or maybe even pre-planned ) and even more happy that he's getting his first chance to train with the senior team.

 

Josh has been training with the first team, but according to this post from a well-followed ultras account, he was not selected as one of the 4 B-team players to participate in a closed-door scrimmage against a 3rd division side (Benfica won 5-0) last week. The account notes that 3 of the 4 B-team players were like-for-like with senior team players out on international duty. The account also openly theorizes that Josh wasn't included because his injury was serious enough to rule him out of a full-contact match ("...the fact that Joshua Wynder didn't play (or at least didn't start) seems to confirm his injury").

O Benfica jogou hoje contre o 1.º Dezembro e ganhou 5-0. Os sete jogadores disponíveis da equipa principal jogaram.

E depois jogaram, pelo menos, quatro jogadores da equipa B: Pedro Souza, Diogo Spencer, Gustavo Marques e Diogo Prioste.

Não é bem óbvio quem foi o segundo defesa… pic.twitter.com/nILVz83X7i

— Coluna Vermelha (@CurtaVermelha) October 10, 2024

 

Because Benfica B hasn't played since October 6th and doesn't play again until this weekend, Joshua started for the u23s in a 5-1 win over the Santa Clara U23 side. However, he only went 80' due to the fact that he collected 2 yellow cards in the last 10 minutes . Also paints his omission from the Dezembro friendly differently (unlikely that he was left out due to injury).

Not sure if his red in Liga Revelação will keep him out from League 2. At the very least, this puts Josh in pole position to start for Benfica B, since he'll be suspended from the u23s in their next match (also, this is the first match he's played for the u23s this season, so it might be a moot point).

 

Guess the suspension didn't carry over: Josh started and went 90' for a B-team in a 1-3 loss to CF Tondela over the weekend. Decent personal performance:

 

Started for Benfica B and went 90' in a 1-1 draw with Academico. Picked up an early yellow (15' per O Jogo's match summary). Full individual player stats aren't available yet at Sofascore.

 

Started in went 90' in a 2-1 win over Alverca...


Also scored the winning goal . I believe that's his 3rd of the season for Benfica B. Video can be found here: https://www.slbenfica.pt/pt-pt/agor...acao-jogo-benfica-b-alverca-11-jornada-liga-2

Now, in fairness, he had a HEAVY hand in giving up the equalizer. In the video, it's kinda sweet how one of his teammates immediately comes to console him...

 

One of the posts on the serbenfiquista forums pointed out that Transfermarkt lists Josh's contract as expiring this summer. None of the English articles about his signing with Benfica mention contract length, so IDK if this is just bad sourcing by the TM volunteers, or if Josh could leave on a free this January. FWIW, ESPN's reporting about his move to Benfica mentioned that there is a 20% sell-on clause that Benfica could remove from his contract if they pay Louisville FC $500k by the end of 2025.

I don't think either party is ready for him to leave, so if the contract length on TM is accurate, I wouldn't be surprised if he's given an extension in the next couple of weeks.

 

Read that he was hurt, but he played the whole match in a shutout win today for Benfica B, so seems like he's fine.

 

A different serbenfiquista poster showed a screenshot from an accounting report Benfica published in September (presumably this is something they have to release to stay in compliance with FPF), which lists Josh's contract as valid through 2028. TM is just confused.