The incredible starting XI of players sold by Benfica

Midfield - Nemanja Matic (Manchester United), Renato Sanches (Bayern Munich) and Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund)

Matic converted to a defensive midfielder at Benfica

Nemanja Matic’s first club in one of Europe’s major leagues was Chelsea but he only played three games in his first Premier League stint before joining Benfica in 2011 as a part of David Luiz’s transfer to Chelsea.

At the time of his transfer, Matic was an attacking midfielder and it was at Benfica that he became a defensive midfielder. Matic shone in his new role at Benfica and played 99 games for the club before transferring back to Chelsea.

Back in the Premier League, Matic’s reputation grew and he was quickly regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in the league. In 2017, he followed his former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho to Manchester United.

Sanches is a product of Benfica's academy

Renato Sanches is a product of the Benfica academy and he played 35 games for the first team before making a €35 million move to Bayern Munich in 2016. During the same summer, he shone for Portugal at the Euro 2016 while also being named tournament’s young player of the year.

Sanches struggled to break into the star-studded Bayern team in his first season and went through a disastrous loan spell at Swansea City in 2017/18. However, back at Bayern, he regained his confidence under the Bavarian club’s new manager Niko Kovac.

Witsel spent just one season with Benfica

Axel Witsel spent one season at Benfica after joining them in 2011 from Standard Liege. He became a fan favourite in his only season with the club and was on the radar of several clubs across Europe but he eventually signed for Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg.

In 2017, the Belgian moved to Tianjin Quanjian before returning to Europe with Borussia Dortmund this summer.

The 29-year-old has played 97 games for Belgium which makes him the second most capped player in the country’s history.

Honourable mentions - Ramires (Jiangsu Suning) and Javi Garcia (Real Betis)