Bento refreshes Sporting ties

Sporting Clube de Portugal have handed coach Paulo Bento a one-year extension and look set to sign defender Gladstone on a season-long loan from EC Cruzeiro.

Bento deal
The 37-year-old coach's contract was due to expire at the end of next season, but the Lisbon club have moved to add another 12 months to his commitment, keeping him at Sporting until the summer of 2009. The former Sporting, SL Benfica, Real Oviedo and Portugal midfielder has been a success in the two years since he took over from José Peseiro.

Gladstone deal
Bento guided Sporting to a second-placed finish in the Liga this season, earning them a place in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage, and saw his side beat CF Os Belenenses 1-0 in the Portuguese Cup final. His preparations for the new campaign have already begun with 22-year-old central defender Gladstone arriving for medical tests with a view to a 12-month loan. Sporting will have the option of buying him for €3.25m next summer.

Two leaving
Meanwhile, Sporting are to part company with midfielder Carlos Martins who is leaving to sign a four-year contract at RC Recreativo de Huelva. The 25-year-old played three times in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League and will be joined at Recreativo by the 22-year-old forward Silvestre Varela, who has been loaned to the Spanish club by Sporting after a similar arrangement with Vitória FC this season.