I watched this deal unfold like a quiet storm—protocol signed, fees agreed, then silence. As a data-driven analyst raised on basketball’s last-second heroics and football’s cold calcifications, I knew this wasn’t about numbers. It was about trust broken. Benfica walked away from the table when the clock ran out. This isn’t a transfer—it’s a betrayal carved in ink, not stats. I’ve seen the shot that changed everything: no one saw it coming.