Tuesday, 2nd July, 2013
The playing days of Paraguayan striker Oscar Cardozo inside Benfica’s hallowed ground of the Estadio da Luz are numbered, with the player set to leave Portugal "before 17th July", says his agent.
Cardozo, 30, is part of the squad that led Benfica to the final of the Europa League last season in Amsterdam – although the club had to content themselves with a second-place finish as London giants Chelsea won the crown.
Apart from that, the Paraguayan is also responsible for 33 of the club’s total goals haul during the 2012/13 campaign, this Cardozo accumulated in his 46 appearances for Benfica.
Surely, the Primeira Liga stalwarts have to be keen on keeping a player able to achieve such feats, but Cardozo’s tussle with club manager Jorge Jesus in May certainly changed that picture.
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Unsettled, Cardozo is now intent on moving away from Estadio da Luz, with newly-promoted Premier League side Cardiff City as well as oil-rich club Manchester City believed to be keeping tabs on the Paraguayan’s situation.
Now the 30-year-old has fired the starting gun on the bidding war, with his agent Pedro Aldave telling Portuguese daily O Jogo: "His departure will be completed before 17th July. He will therefore not report to Benfica for preparing for the new season."
In a further statement that will surely turn heads, the agent said they are in talks with a club, hinting that a move will come sooner rather than later.
"The negotiations are at an advanced stage", Aldave said, but refused to reveal which club they are meeting with.
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