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Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati has completed his move to Portuguese giants Benfica with the 22-year-old officially unveiled by the club on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n
Ciracti joins Benfica – after a standout World Cup campaign and five years in Italy with Serie A club Parma – for a reported fee of $30 million plus $3 million in performance-related add-ons.<\/p>\n
\ufeffGet all the latest football news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n The $33 million total draws Ciracti\u2019s transfer fee level with the Australian transfer record sum that freshly promoted English Premier League outfit Hull City paid for his fellow Socceroos centre back, 18-year-old Lucas Herrington.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited to play here,\u201d Ciracti, who has signed a contract until 2031, told Portuguese television network BTV.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a huge honour, a privilege. I\u2019m over the moon, I couldn\u2019t be happier. I think it\u2019s a reward for many years of hard work. I\u2019m so happy to be here, and I can\u2019t wait to play for Benfica.\u201d<\/p>\n Ciracti\u2019s move to the Primeira Liga means Australia will have a star on either side of the fierce Lisbon derby with Nestory Irankunda joining Sporting CP earlier this month.<\/p>\n Benfica, who are Portugal’s most decorated club having won 88 trophies in their existence, have started their league campaign with a win and a draw, thrashing Casa Pia 7-0 earlier this week.<\/p>\n The carrot of European football is also dangling in front of them as they host Danish outfit AGF at the near 70,000 capacity Estadio da Luz in the first leg of a playoff to qualify for the Europa League on Friday morning Australian time.<\/p>\n \u201cI just took a look at it (the stadium) a moment ago. It\u2019s incredible, and I\u2019m very excited to play here,\u201d Circati said.<\/p>\n Benfica were unbeaten last season under legendary manager Jose Mourinho, but they finished third in the league behind Porto and Sporting.<\/p>\n Mourinho has since departed for a return to Real Madrid with ex-Fulham boss Marco Silva now in charge.<\/p>\n Silva said in a recent interview of his new signing, who has already captained his country and was vice-captain at Parma: \u201cCircati has leadership, maturity and the qualities we were looking for in that position.\u201d<\/p>\n READ MORE<\/b><\/p>\n \ufeffInside Aussie star\u2019s $32m move to \u2018legendary\u2019 club that made Ronaldo… and his wild reveal<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n \ufeffAussie \u2018Rolls Royce\u2019 just landed a massive PL move. It might only be the start for the teen \u2018phenom\u2019<\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n