With reports from the English media claiming this week that Manchester United are interested in Sporting youngster Pedro Gonçalves, we could only expect a big reaction from the Portuguese press today.
However, instead of encouraging the rumour in any possible way, what local newspapers are actually doing is to seriously turn it down.
Starting with Record, who may have been expected to make big story out of it, they only bring one paragraph to explain this story.
Following the claims from England, the outlet claims they’ve learned that there’s no contact from Manchester United. They also point out that agent Jorge Pires recently ruled out the player’s departure in January.
Newspaper Correio da Manhã says something similar in a bigger story. They claim that Sporting ‘refuse’ to sell Gonçalves, also known as Pote, this month.
The player is protected by a release clause of €60m, and since Sporting believe no one is paying that much, that’s the amount they’ll demand as a barrier.
The Lions want time as they only have 50% of the player’s transfer rights, so holding him until the summer would give them a few months to negotiate the other half with his former club Famalicão.
And finally, newspaper Jornal de Notícias says not even the player wants the Manchester United move this month. They claim Pote is focused on helping Sporting win the league title, and isn’t considering leaving in the January transfer window.
The outlet adds that there aren’t any concrete bids for Pote so far, and the Lions would indeed demand €60m for his transfer this month.
