Bento says goodbye to Al-Nassr and will play for Genoa, in Italy

The Arabs accepted a loan from the player with a purchase option set at 9 million euros, which is equivalent to R$56.6 million. It is worth remembering that the Saudi club bought Bento do Furacão for 18 million euros (around R$107 million), making the deal the third biggest sale in the history of Rubro-Negro.

Despite the verbal agreement, the signing will only take place after Bento’s official farewell to Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo’s team. This is because Al-Nassr faces the classic against Al-Hilal this Monday, at 2:30 pm (Brasília time), in the 15th round of the Saudi League.

The Brazilian goalkeeper was left out of coach Jorge Jesus’ priorities this season. Bento has played just ten games this season, starting only in the Asian Champions League. In the Saudi League, where there is a limit on foreigners, the coach prefers to use goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi, from the Saudi Arabian national team, and use foreigners who are outfield players.

“Genoa reaches a verbal agreement to sign Bento as Al Nassr’s new goalkeeper, here we go! Loan contract with a purchase option clause of around 9 million euros. Bento will only be able to leave after today’s game, but there is already a verbal agreement — which will be signed after the match”, Romano pointed out on X, ex-Twitter.

🚨🔴🔵 Genoa reach verbal agreement to sign Bento as new goalkeeper from Al Nassr, here we go!

Loan deal with buy option clause around €9m fee.

Bento will only be allowed to leave after today’s game but verbal agreement in place — so to be signed post-match. pic.twitter.com/HpeSzpGwjM

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) January 12, 2026

Bento has citizenship and had offers from an Italian giant

Bento’s interest in Italy is not recent. Since establishing himself as a starter at Athletico, he had the desire to go to Italy, as he has Italian citizenship, which also makes bureaucratic issues easier for the teams.

Before the agreement with Al Nassr, Athletico had rejected proposals from Benfica, from Portugal, and Inter Milan, from Italy. However, president Mario Celso Petraglia played hard in the negotiations and only accepted the offer of 18 million euros (around R$107 million).

To give you an idea, Bento is the most expensive goalkeeper in the history of Brazilian football. He surpassed goalkeeper Alisson, currently at Liverpool. When it was sold by Internacional to Roma, from Italy, the deal was completed in 2015 for 5 million euros, around R$21 million at the time.

An idol of the red and black fans, Bento won two cups as a starter for the team – Paranaense in 2023 and 2024. As a backup to goalkeeper Santos, Bento also won the Paranaense (2019 and 2020) and Copa Sudamericana (2021) titles.