Portuguese newspaper A Bola have a big feature on Gelson Martins in their Saturday edition. It’s claimed that Gelson is on his way to a new contract with Sporting, which will include a release clause of €100m.
Manchester United interest is of course mentioned and it’s pointed out that the club have now watched Gelson 15 times. A Bola get that information direct from Sporting who, like most Portuguese clubs, publish a list of scouts attending each game.
That’s A Bola’s proof and they state that once Manchester United have scouted a player 15 times it then goes to the next stage, and things become more serious. Gelson is believed to have impressed Jose Mourinho’s men during those matches and so things have moved to ‘another phase’.
That doesn’t mean a bid is imminent, but rather than the whole thing is now more serious rather than generally watching a good player.
There’s no way Manchester United would pay anything like €100m, because the 21 year old simply isn’t worth it. This may well be A Bola talking up the player, and using Manchester United to help.
