Benedict McCarthy Bio Send To Friend  

The South African striker, who signed a four year contract with Rovers, proved to be an instant hit at Ewood Park scoring a impressive 18 goals in 36 appearances in his first season in the Premier League.

However, the emergence of Roque Santa Cruz as Rovers' first choice target man limited McCarthy's appearances and lead to speculation over his future, nevertheless the South African striker inked a new three-year deal in April 2008 tying him to the club until 2011.

So good was his debut in English football that he has been linked with a move to Chelsea, and what would be a reunion with his former Porto manager, Jose Mourinho.

Beginning his career in South Africa with Seven Stars, an 18 year old McCarthy scored 27 goals in 29 games in the 1995/96 season. Earning him a transfer to Cape Town Spurs, which merged with his old side two years later to form Ajax Cape Town.

In 1997 he joined Ajax in Holland and scored 9 goals in his first season, winning the league as well.

After a relatively successful 1998-99 season he was sold to Spanish side Celta Vigo for a sum reported to be over 6m EUR, at the time the most expensive transfer for a South African player.

Although he was seen as one of the best African players of his generation, McCarthy never made his mark at Celta and after two poor seasons he was loaned to FC Porto where he rediscovered his form and helped the team into Europe.

At Porto, McCarthy helped the side to UEFA Cup qualification and scored an impressive 12 goals in 10 matches under manager Mourinho. Despite wanting to stay in Portugal, Poro's finances wouldn't allow the transfer and McCarthy returned to Celta in 2002/03.

McCarthy spent a lot of time on the bench at Celta, while Porto won the League and UEFA Cup. Porto eventually acquired the funds to buy the striker when they sold Helder Postiga to Tottenham, and the South African signed for a sum of ¬3.5 M.

His return to Porto was triumphant and he sealed the Golden Boot (with 20 goals in 23 games) and was influential in Porto's 2002 UEFA Champions League success, scoring 2 goals in the defeat of Manchester United.

When Jose Mourinho left for Chelsea and was replaced by ex-Celta Vigo coach Victor Fernandez, McCarthy claimed he would rather retire than be coached by the manager again and tried to seal a move to Everton.

Porto refused to sell and rumours were rife about which Premier League club he would join. West Ham and Blackburn made themselves known admirers, but he stayed at Porto and was rewarded by another Portugese championship title.