Benfica will go after Mariano

Benfica filled their pockets after Raul de Tomas' exit to Espanyol, but they will have to invest some of that revenue in another striker. 

The newspaper 'O Jogo' claims that Benfica has is focusing its efforts on Mariano, a Real Madrid player who's been completely discarded by Zinedine Zidane this season. The striker, however, had his first minutes in the Super Cup and played against Atletico and Valencia.

In any case, there are players above Mariano and he's got offers lined-up, but it will be difficult to reach an agreement because of his high profile. The aforementioned media reported that Benfica wants a loan until the end of the course, so it would have to pay half of his very high salary despite the lack of performances. 

In other words, Benfica would have to reach an agreement first with Madrid and then with the footballer, who would prefer to play in one of the five big leagues in Europe or in the First Division in Spain.

Thus, the Portuguese team would pay around two million euros of player's current earnings, which Madrid would not be willing to pay, and put him succulent offer for Mariano to accept.