OM win Jardel with swap plan

OM are close to signing Brazilian striker Mario Jardel from Galatasary.

New OM manager Bernard Tapie has been tracking the player for two months and has offered midfielder Jerome Leroy and defender Sebastien Perez for Jardel.

Jardel had been linked with a return to Portugal with Benfica but OM have now agreed a deal.. "We have agreed in principle," Anatolian news agency quoted Galatasaray vice-chairman Ali Durust as saying tonight.

"It won't be signed for two days. They will give us an amount of money plus Leroy and Perez in return for Jardel."

Jardel was keen to move to Serie A and attracted serious attention from English clubs last season when he completed his third season at FC Porto as one of the top strikers in Europe.

He top scored for four seasons in the Portuguese league with FC Porto and in 1999 he was the top scorer in all the European leagues.

Galatasary want to sign Yugoslav striker Predrag Mijatovic from Fiorentina to help replace their record signing who joined the Turkish club in August as a £13 million signing from Porto. He has maintained a good scoring record in Turkey but Gala have looking to trade Jardel since late last year.

Financial problems for Benfica meant their talks with Jardel were unlikely to succeed.

Benfica are more than £75 million in debt while OM have just staved off bankruptcy themselves to stay in the French first division.