Andre and John, mind you I don't necessarily disagree with your opinions.
What I didn't like was that we actually put Melgarejo and Djalo as defenders. Mind you, Djalo who gets pushed off the ball on a regular basis.
I understand that our left and right backs are key to our attack, especially with our wingers pinching in so much, but we are dismissing defensive attributes completely. Maybe he didn't fit our style, and he did bring a profit after only one year, but Wass did show well on loan abroad.
Plenty of time left in silly season.

As for Nico, he better go. He could go either way should he stay. If his agent gets in his ear that Benfica held it up somehow, he'll pout.
If Benfica lose Axel, it will be as bad as when we lost Ramires. In the end a much bigger loss than DiMaria.

This might get me killed, but having Martins back and showing well, scares me a bit. If he finds himself in the lineup, I don't think it will bode well in the long run.

I haven't really seen much of Luisinho so I didn't really know what to expect. When I read about his transfer to Benfica, I thought that he'd be a back up or even a member of the B team.

However, I was very impressed with him in the friendly against Marseille. He only played the opening 45 minutes, but he looked like one of our better players. He defended quite well, was confident to take on defenders, and he was always making runs forward, providing some great crosses in the process.

I only watched him play 45 minutes so I don't want to over-hype him, but his movement on and off the ball did remind me of Coentrao. I'm not saying that he'a anywhere near Fabio's level, but I'd rather have a poor man's Fabio Coentrao than Emerson or Capdevila.

Emerson always worked hard, but rarely offered anything else. He offered very little going forward with his lack of pace or technical ability, and he was frequently a liability in defense.

I still think that Benfica should try to buy a proven left back (Reto Ziegler of Juve has been mentioned) But Luisinho should still be given opportunities to impress. At the very least, I think that Luisinho will make a very solid back up.

By reading the expert/pundit assessments, this one could go either way. I think the key is that he has shown something and just might flourish in the right situation. Him coming on a free, is also key.

Where's the Benfica updates?
For me some very troubling news is unfolding.
I know everyone was and is against Emerson, but I could see a huge mistake being made. Luisinho? That's what we got?
We are dismissing a younger player (26) that was going through growing pains in a new club and country for a 27 year old that was even shakier with P. Ferreira? I still don't know the transfer fee involved in this one.
Some Stats;
Emerson: 0 goals, 4 assists, 9 yellows, 2 reds in all competitions (39 matches)
Luisinho: 1 goal, 4 assists, 13 yellows, 1 red in all competitions (32 matches)
Not good at all.
I get that Emerson was our weak link last season, but people are forgetting he was replacing Coentrao. Coentrao, who is a world class left back. Not an easy find.
I truly think that people were grading Emersons performance against Coentrao, instead of seeing his play. He has pace and is physical, who should get better. I'm afraid he's being used as the scapegoat by the fans and worst yet, the club. Please keep in mind that I might have defended Emerson, but I also saw his faults. I just didn't think it was always on him.
Not good.

Fully fit we have one of the best defensive midfielders in the world. Rinaudo is fantastic and just to think that when he got injured last season is when SCP went pear shaped.

I've seen Fernandes play twice in person, most recently for Switzerland against Germany. The first time was in the 10/11 season when he played for Chievo Verona against Udinese. In both games his style of play could be more or less summarized by the comments of the journalists in this article. He isn't an "imperious midfielder", but is very hard working and physically capable of breaking down opposition attacks. Sporting really need a player like that in my opinion, so right away I'd have to say he should add another dimension to the team.

One thing I will say is that he'll play a lot better with a more technically gifted midfielder alongside him. When he played for Chievo against Udinese, he didn't have that luxury and so ended up working his socks off to little effect. He does present a threat on set pieces, and nearly scored from a header following a corner in this game. However, in general his impact was merely to stem the waves of attacks away from goal and that only worked for so long since he didn't have another technically savvy player beside him to use as an outlet.

Against Germany, it was a different story because he was paired with Gokhan Inler in midfield, a player who is really talented in my opinion. Fernandes did the dirty work and had the luxury of dumping the ball off to Inler to allow him to work his magic on the ball. With Inler alongside him, he was much better in general and was free to roam box to box and break up play all over the field, collecting the ball and playing tidy passes to Inler. He also hit the crossbar with a looping header late in the 2nd half, again proving his threat in the box.

Overall, a good signing, but SCP need to use him with the right combination of players. He isn't a "maestro" and Sporting will need to find one to put beside him in order to maximize his effectiveness. Ideally, somebody already on the team can step up to fill that role (Andre Martins or Adrien Silva maybe???)