Bournemouth have signed Portugal defender Antonio Silva from Benfica in a deal worth up to £25.7m, bringing a 22-year-old with 20 international caps to the south coast.

The fee breaks down to an initial £21.4m plus a further £4.3m in add-ons — those are bonus payments triggered by performance milestones. Silva becomes Bournemouth's second signing of the summer, following striker Alvaro Rodriguez's arrival from Elche BBC Sport.

Silva broke into Benfica's first team in 2022 and has been a regular ever since, featuring in the Champions League, Europa League and Club World Cup. He was in Portugal's squads for the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024, though he was not selected by manager Roberto Martínez for this summer's tournament.

Bournemouth identified replacing Marcos Senesi as a priority after the Argentine defender completed a free transfer to Tottenham earlier in July. Club sources said the Silva agreement was only reached after Benfica's Europa League qualifying-round win over Swiss side St Gallen on Thursday — meaning the Lisbon club wanted their European tie settled before sanctioning the sale.

The arrival fits a clear pattern at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth sold more than £200m worth of players last year and are now aiming for a summer of stability under Tiago Pinto, their president of football operations, and new manager Marco Rose. They are also determined to resist offers for key players Alex Scott, Rayan and Junior Kroupi.

That resolve will be tested early. Kroupi is out for three to four months after sustaining an injury in pre-season training, a setback that removes one of Rose's attacking options before the campaign has even begun.

For Silva, the move to the Premier League is a fresh start at a club quietly building something. For Bournemouth fans, it means a centre-back who has already faced some of the best attackers in Europe — and one who arrives at exactly the moment the squad needed him.