Barcelona star Nelson Semedo hopes to one day return to Benfica

Barcelona full-back Nelson Semedo insists he will one day return to Benfica to see out the remainder of his career with his boyhood club.

After failing in their attempts to lure Hector Bellerin away from Arsenal during the summer transfer window, Barcelona instead turned their attention to 23-year-old Semedo, bringing the player to the Nou Camp for a reported fee of €30m.

The Portugal international has immediately become part of the first-team picture under Ernesto Valverde, sharing duties at right-back with Sergi Roberto. While the two often vie for the same role, it was Semedo who was preferred in the manager's starting XI in Barcelona's biggest games of the season to date – the Champions League clash with Juventus and a La Liga showdown with Atletico Madrid.

Semedo looks set to offer a long-term solution at right-back, so often a problem area for the Catalan giants over the last 18 months following the departure of Dani Alves in 2016.

But the Lisbon-born full-back has not forgotten his roots and believes he will one day return to the Estadio da Luz at the tail-end of his playing career.

"I would like to end up as a player for my club, in my city and with Benfica," said in an interview with BTV's Alta Fidelidade programme, A Bola report.

"It was not because I left Benfica that I stopped being Benfica or feeling Benfica. I feel Benfica the same way. Benfica will always be mine."

Semedo played the full 90 minutes as Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 win over Real Murcia in the first round of the Copa del Rey on Tuesday night. Valverde opted to rest the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez with Gerard Pique held back on the bench but goals from Paco Alcacer, Gerard Deulofeu and debutant Jose Arnaiz sealed a comfortable win.