Robert jumps ship for Benfica chance

Laurent Robert swapped the grind of a relegation dogfight for the glamour of Champions League football by signing for Portuguese giants Benfica on a free transfer.

Portsmouth agreed to cancel Robert’s season-long loan from Newcastle, leaving the erratic French winger free to sign a three-and-a-half-year contract with Benfica.

Robert, aged 30, passed his medical in Lisbon yesterday morning and immediately revealed the lure of Champions League football was too great to turn down.