Fulham’s latest attempt to sign Benfica defender Morato was unsuccessful, according to the latest reports from Portugal.
Newspaper O Jogo today features a headline saying the centre-back ‘won’t leave’ the Eagles this summer, and the Whites may as well give up.
The outlet writes that Benfica turned down Fulham’s €25m bid, regardless of the player’s request to let him go.
It’s said that the Eagles ‘remain adamant and were not touched by the athlete’s arguments’, as manager Roger Schmidt does not want to lose him in this window.
Morato is protected by a €100m release clause, and given Benfica’s wish to hold him, they won’t even bother sending Fulham a counter-offer.
The club believe that by keeping the defender in their squad, his market value will go up, and they can sell him for much more in the coming years.
Newspaper Record confirms the rejection, and claims that Fulham won’t continue with this pursuit for much longer, as they have other targets, such as Calvin Bassey, on their list.
What is interesting is that newspaper Correio da Manhã feature a story with the opposite information.
They claim Morato has ‘a foot and a half’ out of Benfica, and in case there’s an agreement with Fulham, then the Eagles already target potential replacements.
Now since O Jogo’s and Record’s stories are a lot more complete and much more highlighted, they probably deserve to be taken more seriously.
