Benfica complete Cortez capture

UEFA Champions League contenders SL Benfica have stiffened their backline by securing Brazil full-back Bruno Cortez from São Paulo FC on a season-long loan.

"I am very happy to be at such a great club as Benfica. It's a dream come true. I know that we are going to play in many competitions and I am going to do all I can to play well," said the left-sided Cortez, who hopes his trans-Atlantic switch will bolster his chances of adding to the two Brazil caps he won in 2011. "I want to get back into the Selecção and I can do it through Benfica and with the help of my team-mates."

The 26-year-old former Botafogo FR defender, on whom Benfica have an option to make his loan deal permanent, travelled on Friday with his new club to Switzerland where they will play three friendlies between Saturday and Tuesday.

Beaten finalists in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League, Benfica will feature in the UEFA Champions League group stage in the coming season, and have already added significantly to the squad which finished runners-up to FC Porto in the Portuguese Liga.

Their summer signings include Argentinian defender Lisandro López, GD Estoril-Praia centre-back Steven Vitória, and a quartet of Serbian players: Stefan Mitrović, Lazar Marković, Miralem Sulejmani and Filip Djuričić.