Benfica plan to raise cash for Jardel

Benfica's board of directors were locked in talks on Wednesday, discussing ways to reduce the club's debt and raise the £20 million needed to sign Brazilian striker Mario Jardel from Galatasaray.

It is hoped that the new financial structure will raise more than £100 million for the Portuguese side.

Benfica held high-level talks with BES (Banco Espirito Santo), one of the most powerful Portuguese Banks, to devise a new financial structure for the club's plc.

The moves come after it was revealed that club chairman Dr Manuel Vilarinho and his backers had been funding the club to pay the players' wages and for transfers, such as the £5.5 million deal for Roger with Brazilian club Fluminense.

Now the club wants to reduce their £50 million liabilities, raise £100 million in new capital and use other financial facilities to pay for players such as Jardel, whose presence at the Stadium of Light was promised by Vilarinho during his election campaign in the summer.

As exclusively revealed by onefootball.com, Jardel has already agreed to join Benfica after admitting to being unhappy in Turkey, and the only stumbling block appears to be the fee.

Galatasaray paid £18.8 million to sign the prolific striker from Porto before the start of the season and appear reluctant to sell. They are also concerned about Benfica's ability to pay the £20 million they would demand for the player.

Benfica have still not paid Vitesse Arnhem £4 million for striker Pierre van Hooijdonk, and the Dutch club are now facing financial crisis. Vitoria Guimaraes also complained about non-payment of money owed for defender Fernando Meira.

If the proposed financial structure is put in place, Benfica football club will still be the main shareholder of the plc with a 40 per cent controlling interest. Private investors will not be able to subscribe to more than 11 per cent of the shares.

The plan will be put before club members for approval at a general meeting of the ordinary assembly next month.