Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond was today hoping to secure striker Jorge Cadete on loan until the end of the season.

The Benfica striker was due in Bradford later this afternoon for talks about a possible switch to Valley Parade.

However, City seem less hopeful of signing Aston Villa striker Stan Collymore.

Manager Paul Jewell is hoping to sign Collymore and Cadete to boost an attack that has scored only 19 goals in 23 league matches.

But chairman Geoffrey Richmond said that had been 'no positive news' on Collymore over the weekend.

Jewell has targeted Cadete and Collymore as part of the solution to the goalscoring problems which have left City in the bottom three of the Premiership.

Benfica president Vale e Azevedo has already held preliminary negotiations with City, who are hoping to take Cadete on loan until the end of the season with an option about a permanent deal.

Richmond said: "We have dealt through an intermediary up to this point but it is encouraging that Jorge is coming over from Portugal.

"These are exciting times for the club. Since the news of our interest in both Stan and Jorge emerged we have been transformed from 'struggling Bradford City' to 'audacious Bradford City'.

"It is our target to sort out one or both transfers before the Arsenal game but it was also our target before the season kicked off to win the Premiership!"

Cadete was a huge success during his 13-month spell in Scotland with Celtic where he scored a staggering 38 goals in 49 appearances, including five as a substitute.

He was a huge favourite with the Parkhead faithful before he quit Glasgow to return to Portugal in the summer of 1997.

Former City goalkeeper Jonathan Gould joined the Scottish giants shortly after Cadete's exit. He said: "I never played alongside him. He left the week before I joined the club but he was revered by the supporters and a lot of the players.

"He was highly thought of and it was a surprise when he left."

Richmond said the fact that there had been 'no positive news' over the weekend could be interpreted as lessening City's prospects of signing Collymore.

He said he had expected another meeting to have been arranged with Collymore, but nothing is planned. "There is no ongoing communication and I think it is fair to say we are less positive than we were two or three days ago," he said.

Saturday's glamour home clash with Arsenal is sold out. "Our season ticket holders are allowed to return tickets to the club that they can't use so there may well be a few available," said Richmond.

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