Portuguese newspaper Record reports they’ve been informed Erdal Rakip’s move from Benfica to Crystal Palace on loan is expected to be made official today, and that fits in with other claims from Portugal and Sweden.
Record say the transfer process is ‘very close’ to completion, and Rakip will stay until the end of the season at Crystal Palace.
The midfielder joined Benfica over the past week as a free agent, arriving as a champion from Malmo, where his contract had come to an end.
On Friday we covered a report from Portugal which revealed a little more about the strange deal. Benfica, not needing the player this season, had considered loaning Rakip to a smaller Portuguese club but he wasn’t keen, and that’s where Crystal Palace came in.
Given the nature of the situation, Crystal Palace won’t be paying a loan fee and will just have to cover Rakip’s wages for the rest of the season, which won’t be a great deal of money.
This is now considered done in Portugal, hence why it’s not getting a lot of fanfare.
