Ex-Arsenal striker Chris Willock follows in Brian Deane's footsteps at Benfica
After Chris Willock signed his five-year deal at Benfica he became the latest British footballer to pull on the Lisbon giants’ shirt.
Back in the late 1990’s there was an influx of players from England in the Portuguese capital as Graeme Souness tried to make the club play to his robust tune.
In December 1997, Souness snapped up target man Brian Deane from Sheffield United in a move which surprised everyone, including the striker himself.
“I was at Sheffield United and I got asked if it was something I would be interested in before we played Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. I’d committed to a project that the people at Sheffield United said they were embarking on so it was a bit of a wretch but I just felt some of the promises they’d made weren’t likely to delivered – and it was very hard to turn down Benfica,” Deane told ITV.
He was not the first Englishman to sign for The Eagles, as defender Scott Minto was already at the club, having moved over following the expiration of his contract at Chelsea in the summer.
Minto had thrown himself into the Portuguese lifestyle, as he tried to adjust to life on and off the pitch. Having arrived a few months prior to Deane, the former Chelsea man was eager to assist his new colleague.
“I didn’t realise Scott was there, I only remembered when I got out there. We hit it off, he’s a really amiable guy and he was really sinking himself into the culture and I think, from his point of view, it was good to see a face he was aware of from playing against each other. Naturally I gravitated to him and it did help me a lot.”
Despite the help from those around him, Deane struggled to settle straight away, as he tried to get used to life away from what he knew and England in his first spell playing for a club outside of Yorkshire.
“Don’t get me wrong, it was difficult when I first went over there but for me it was such a massive team with players from all over the world; most of them spoke Portuguese or Spanish and they didn’t know me, so for the first couple of weeks it was quite difficult – I was stuck in a hotel, which didn’t help. Scott was there with his then girlfriend, and you can’t expect somebody to mind you all the time, so I spent a lot of time on my own as well.”
On the pitch Deane was a breath of fresh air, a player the likes Portuguese football had rarely seen before; his physique and aggressive style was tough for defenders to handle, as they were used to a completely different type of striker.
Deane quickly became a fan’s favourite thanks to his willing nature, crucial goals and his ability to bully defenders. A famous 4-1 away victory over rivals Sporting Lisbon cemented Deane as a cult hero thanks to his Man of the Match performance.
“When you’re playing against foreign defenders they have different ways of stopping you, it’s not like playing against Steve Bould or Martin Keown, sometimes they were smaller, sometimes they were quicker, sometimes they used different tactics to put you off your game and some of that isn’t when the ball’s around you.
“It wasn’t easy because the football was different as well. For me, the biggest thing was, as a centre forward, I needed to get my first goal, as it’s easier to settle if you’re scoring or assisting and in my first game, we won 1-0 away and I assisted in the goal, which helped endear me to the lads. I did bring a different style, which meant there was always a Plan B or Plan C, and I could always incorporate myself into Plan A.”
Benfica would qualify for the Champions League thanks in part to Deane and his striker partnership with Nuno Gomes. The pair would score 25 league goals between them as they finished second behind Porto.
Souness saw Deane’s success as a sign that more British players were needed to build on the foundations created during his first season in charge. The Scot returned to the players he knew best as Gary Charles, Michael Thomas, Mark Pembridge, Dean Saunders and Steve Harkness were all imported.
There would be no repetition of the first season as Benfica’s form slid, exacerbated by club president, Joao Vale e Azevedo, who would later go to prison for taking money from transfer deals. He would also ruin morale in the dressing room by selling players off and reneging on promises he made to the squad.
“We knew there were some major problems. We were there as footballers and do as well as we could. If you’re professional, that’s what you do, you try to avoid the politics. I tried to ignore it at the time, but it was difficult. Our job was to make sure we finished as high as we could."
Souness had trouble ensuring his charges were part of a cohesive unit, as the domestic players failed to warm to the Scot due to his methods.
“I saw the way some of the relationships deteriorated. You want to do well for the manager and you have your team-mates; when you’re in a team, it’s very rare you don’t get on with your team-mates. It was very difficult, being in the middle, but that’s football. It was Graeme’s job to manage and it would be wrong for someone like me to say how he should have managed, as that was his way. On reflection, maybe he would have done things a little bit differently. I had an interesting conversation with Graeme about the fact he’d had a heart bypass and his outlook on life.”
Eventually Deane was sold by the club against his will in October 1998 - just nine months after he joined - as Benfica sought to make money on their assets, making a significant profit on the Englishman as he was allowed to join Middlesbrough.
“I was quite happy out there, because we were in the Champions League, I’d moved out there for the opportunity to play in Portugal, but the club made it quite clear to me that they were in difficulties and wanted to move me on.”
The other Brits were all quickly moved on after Souness departed towards the end of the 1998-99 campaign as Benfica could only muster a disappointing third place finish, leaving behind little lasting legacy, something Willock will want to change this in his spell at in Portugal..
Benfica have moved on a lot since the time of Deane and Souness but Willock can be sure that things will never be dull in at the Estadio da Luz.