Benfica forgotten man finally makes his debut FOUR YEARS after signing for them

Benfica's forgotten man Adel Taarabt finally made his debut for the club on Saturday... 1,387 days after signing for them.

The former Tottenham midfielder joined Benfica from Queens Park Rangers in June 2015 after having his contract at Loftus Road terminated by mutual consent.

But he struggled to break into the first-team in Lisbon and in 2017 opted to go out on loan to Genoa, where he spent 18 months.

Upon returning to Benfica, he was demoted to the club's B-team, but he has recently impressed in training and manager Bruno Lage rewarded him with a place in the squad for Saturday's Portuguese Liga clash with Tondela.

It was Taarabt's first appearance in Benfica's match-day party since November 2015 when he was an unused sub in a 2-1 win over Galatasaray.

Twenty-nine-year-old Taarabt made his debut against Tondela as a 71st-minute replacement for Pizzi when the score was 0-0.

Taarabt touched the ball 16 times and was on the pitch when fellow sub Haris Seferovic netted the winner six minutes from full-time.

The Morocco international has seen his attitude questioned in the past but Benfica boss Lage spoke positively about him earlier this week.

Lage said: 'He started the season at the B team. I did not know him, I had heard stories about his past, but what I saw was a player who always trained well, with the intensity I like.

'I must hand him opportunities, we will see if we can create that opportunity and if he grabs it once and for all to make a career according to his potential.'