BENFICA are lining up a possible move for Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca.

The Portuguese giants are keen to sign a left-back who can also play in left midfield, and sources in Lisbon claim Arca is one of a number of players currently under consideration.

Boca Juniors defender Luciano Monzon is Benfica’s preferred option, but the Argentina international will command a fee of up to £4m.

That could force Benfica chiefs to look elsewhere, and Arca would represent a cutprice alternative.

The Middlesbrough midfielder turns 29 at the end of the month and, while Gordon Strachan would be reluctant to lose his services given an injury crisis that is unlikely to subside soon, Boro officials could find it hard to reject an offer of £1m-or-more.

Arca cost the Teessiders £1.75m when he moved from Sunderland in July 2006, but has been in and out of the side under Strachan, starting just two of Boro’s last five league games.

He will start against Swansea this afternoon provided he shakes off a minor foot problem, with the absence of eight senior players effectively forcing Strachan to pick the only 11 players available to him.

The Scotsman has been hit with a succession of injury blows since replacing Gareth Southgate in mid-October, and admits he still does not know what his strongest team will be once everybody is fit.

“I know how I would like to play, I know what I’ve got if they are fully fit, but then sometimes you put them all out and it doesn’t work,” said Strachan.

“I haven’t got the faces or the individuals yet. They can be anybody who will stick to the team plan and get on with it – that’s the only fair way to do it.

“I know the tempo I want my team to play, but I’d like to see what their spirit is like, and their durability and drive.

I have all that in mind, but I’m open minded in terms of which players want to play that way and come along and do it.”

When Middlesbrough won 3-0 at Swansea on the second weekend of the season, the two sides looked to be heading in divergent directions. Their paths have split, but in the not in the way that many would have imagined.

While Boro have tumbled down the table in recent months, the Swans have climbed to fourth position, with their open, attacking style disproving the theory that teams need to adopt an attritional outlook in order to prosper in the Championship.

■ New signing Chris Killen has been named in the New Zealand squad for a friendly against Mexico in California on Wednesday, March 3.