[Pat Murphy]

Spanish Shorts

Benfica Preparing Martíns Move
Quique Sánchez Flores is preparing to offer €3m to Recreativo to make Carlos Martíns his first signing since taking over the reins at Benfica. The Portuguese club's sporting director is due to open negotiations with the Andalucian club this week, but may find that the bid must be higher as his buy-out clause stands at €15m. Martíns previous club Sporting Lisbon still own a percentage of him too and that would see Recre receive even less. Benfica are also weighing up moves for Valencia duo David Albelda and Marco Caneira

Investigation Into Valencia Tragedy
The architect of the new Mestalla stadium has stated that there will be a thorough investigation into the accident that claimed the lives of four builders on Monday. Alejandro Escribano expressed his deepest regret after the event and said that he wanted a "convincing and detailled" report of what happened. According to eye witnesses the builders were n a scaffolding platform that was struck by a metal pillar. Two men were killed at the scene while two others passed away in hospital.

Ricardo Has No Regrets
Real Betis goalkeeper Ricardo has announced that he has no regrets about moving to the Spanish strugglers last summer from Sporting Lisbon. Many questioned his decision after the Verdiblancos struggled against the drop for most of the campaign, but the Portuguese international thinks that he is a better player after his first year in la Primera. "Everything that I did during the year helped me to improve what I came to do. Everything was beneficial for and now I feel better than I was before," he said.

Sevilla Worried About Fazio
Sevilla are concerned about what condition defender Federico Fazio will return to pre-season in after he was called up to play for Argentina in the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. The Andalucian outfit thought this was a perfect time for him to take a break after a demanding campaign, but instead he will be spending almost six weeks with his national team. Last summer he had very little holiday time either due to the Spanish Super Cup and Champions League preliminaries.

Lucas Brown, Goal.com

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