Ramires Santos do Nascimento joins us after one season with Benfica, in which he helped them storm to the Liga Sagres title, five points clear of Braga in second place.

During that campaign, the 23-year-old midfielder, born on March 24, 1987, made 26 league appearances, scoring four times including a last-minute winner against Vitoria Guimaraes on his debut.

Rio-born Ramires signed for Benfica from Cruzeiro, on the day he earned his first call-up to the full Brazil squad for the 2009 Confederations Cup, a tournament they easily won, and he went on to help them qualify for the World Cup.

Picked in Dunga's 23-man squad, he appeared in four of their five matches but was suspended for the 2-1 defeat to Holland in the quarter-finals after accumulating two yellow cards. His only start was against Chile in the first knockout round, and so far he has 17 caps, most recently against USA in midweek.

Comfortable in either the centre or the right of midfield, he spent just over two seasons in Belo Horizonte with Cruzeiro, whom he joined from Joinville in 2007, and became a state champion appearing in 61 league matches and scoring 10 times.