Roma complete loan signing of Portugal’s Oliveira

Portuguese international Sergio Oliveira has signed for Roma on loan from Porto, the Serie A club announced on Wednesday.

In a statement Roma said that midfielder Oliveira has signed until the end of the season with an option to buy, without specifying the fee for either transaction.

“Roma have always shown a real interest in me and now I want to try and immediately help the team to achieve all its targets and continue to develop the right mentality,” said Oliveira to the club’s website

The 29-year-old has spent most of his career with Porto, where he has won two league titles and last season scored 20 goals in all competitions.

This year he netted five times for Sergio Conceicao’s team, who are three points ahead of Sporting Lisbon at the top of the Portuguese Primeira Liga, before making the switch to Italy on Wednesday.

Oliveira, who has played 13 times for his national team, is Roma’s second reinforcement in the winter transfer window — following Ainsley Maitland-Niles’ arrival from Arsenal — after a disappointing start to Jose Mourinho’s reign as coach.

Mourinho questioned his team’s character after their meltdown 4-3 home defeat to Juventus on Sunday, in which they threw away a two-goal in the space of six minutes and then missed the chance to scrape a draw from the penalty spot.

Roma have already lost nine times this Serie A season and sit seventh, nine points off the Champions League positions.