Benfica rejected Sunderland’s attempts to sign midfielder Andreas Samaris in the final days of the winter transfer window, according to Portuguese daily Record.
The Black Cats were keen on snapping up the 27-year-old Greek schemer in the January transfer window and tried until the end to snare him away from Benfica last month.
There was talk that Benfica were looking for a fee of around €20m for Samaris, but it seems the Eagles backed out of selling the player as they were not keen to lose another midfielder.
Benfica rejected an initial offer from Sunderland in January but the Black Cats came back with an improved bid for Samaris, matching the Portuguese giants’ asking price for the Greek.
However, they met with disappointment again as Benfica knocked back that offer and decided against selling another player so close to the end of the window without a replacement lined up.
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The club feel Samaris could emerge as an important player in the title race in Portugal and were unwilling to lose such an influential figure of their squad, in the middle of the season.
Samaris joined Benfica from Greek giants Olympiacos in 2014 for €10m and has a contract until 2019 with the club.
