Chelsea clinch Tiago transfer
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Article summary
Tiago will travel to the United States with Chelsea FC after completing a move from SL Benfica.
Article body
Three-year deal
The 23-year-old signed a three-year contract on the day that Didier Drogba became Chelsea's record purchase, joining from Olympique de Marseille for an undisclosed fee between €35 and €40m. José Mourinho turned his attentions towards his countryman after failing to tempt Liverpool FC captain Steven Gerrard to London. Tiago was part of the Portugal squad which reached the final of UEFA EURO 2004™, although he did not play.
Cup winner
Groomed at SC Braga, he joined Benfica in December 2001 and excelled in 2002/03, scoring 13 times in 31 SuperLiga games. A Portuguese Cup winner last season, Tiago joins new recruits Mateja Kezman, Paulo Ferreira, Petr Cech and Arjen Robben at Stamford Bridge. There are unlikely to be any more Chelsea signings this summer after Mourinho said he wanted to finalise his squad before departing for the US, where the Blues will play Celtic FC, AS Roma and AC Milan.