Oscar Cardozo brought an end to his seven-year spell at Benfica by completing a move to Turkish club Trabzonspor. The Paraguay striker has been playing at Benfica since 2007. The Portuguese club gave him his route into European football when they signed him from Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys for around € 10 million. He has gone on to represent the Portuguese club in close to 300 matches in all competitions. He has also been part of several title winning campaigns as well. At 31 years of age, however, it is understood that Benfica sporting director Rui Costa wants to bring a young striker to lead the attack.
Benfica and several other Portuguese clubs primarily depend upon the transfer fees brought in from the sales of big names. The likes of Porto have made more than £ 300 million in player transfers over the last decade. This continues to be a huge source of income in country where TV revenue is not comparable to that of United Kingdom and Spain. During this period, Cardozo has become the best foreign goalscorer. He has also scored 11 goals for the club in the Champions League along with 19 more in competitions like the Europa league and the UEFA cup.
“I didn’t expect to score this many goals, nor break so many records. I am proud to be part of the history of this great club. You will be in my heart forever. I surpassed my expectations, I scored a lot of goals and I won several trophies. My only regret is not winning the Europa League, but we got to the final twice, which is something many would like to achieve. We won three trophies; it was a year that I will never forget,” said the striker after announcing his departure.