Former Chelsea midfielder and Brazil international Ramires set for return to Benfica

Former Benfica star Ramires is on the verge of completing his highly anticipated move back to the Lisbon club, it is now understood.

Ramires, 31, has played for Brazil a total of 52 times in his career, scoring four goals in the process, and spent over half of his career at English Premier League side Chelsea, where he played near 200 games across all competitions.

However, Ramires first made his mark on the European scene back in the 2009-10 season, where he played for Portuguese giants Benfica, and he is now set to return to the club from Chinese Super League outfit Jiangsu Suning.

The tenacious and hard-working box-to-box central midfielder will provide a great deal of experience and energy in the middle of the park for Benfica, and his second stint at the club is one that will surely have Benfica fans impressed and excited in equal measure as they look to regain the league title, and qualify for the Champions League group stage for a ninth consecutive season.

Ramires follows Nani back to the Portuguese league this summer, who moved to Sporting for his third spell at the club after a short stint at Lazio.

Ramires' move to Benfica does not depend on Champions League qualification, and could be confirmed within the next few days.