Ramires profile: 10 things you need to know about Manchester City's Brazilian target
Robinho may be making noises about heading off to Barcelona, but that hasn't stopped the Manchester City winger from recommending a Brazilian team-mate to the Premier League club.
So who is this Ramires character and what could he bring to Eastlands, save for exorbitant wage demands, we hear you ask?
Well here are 10 things you need to know about the midfielder…
1) Ramires Santos do Nascimento is 22 years old and was born in Rio de Janeiro. He was spotted by Cruzeiro playing for Santa Caterina club Joinville in 2007.
2) Ramires made his loan move to Cruzeiro permanent in a $300,000 (£184,000) deal in 2007, with Joinville striking an agreement that ensured they would earn 30% of any future sell-on fee.
3) At Cruzeiro, the midfielder earned a reputation for turning in formidable displays against arch-rivals Atletico Mineiro and he was named in Placar magazine's Team of the Season earlier this year.
4) Both Joinville and Cruzeiro made a nice little earner this summer when Ramires joined Benfica for £6.8m in the summer, the Portuguese club having been impressed by the midfielder's ball-winning ability and endurance.
5) The South American is known in his homeland as The Blue Kenyan, for his boundless energy, appearance and, until recently, affiliation to Cruzeiro, who play in blue.
6) Ramires made five appearances for Brazil at the Confederations Cup and is vying for a place in the Samba Boys' midfield engine room at next year's World Cup with Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva.
7) More of a box-to-box midfielder than Melo or Gilberto, Ramires is also prone to pop up with goals, as his 24 strikes in 73 league appearances for Cruzeiro bears out.
8) Ramires has settled seamlessly into European football, albeit the Portuguese Liga, scoring four goals in six league appearances for the Lisbon club, who are handily placed in second place in the Portuguese standings.
9) Benfica knew what they were doing when they bought the promising 22-year-old. The Eagles bought the midfielder for £6.8 million but slapped a £27.3m release clause on his contract, which ties him to the club until 2014.
10) The ambitious Ramires always intended to use Benfica as a stepping stone to move on to greater things. A transfer to the Premier League would not be out of the question for a player who, upon joining Benfica, said: "I am going there to play a beautiful season so that afterwards I can join another big European club."
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