Arsenal have reportedly had a €30m bid for the Sporting starlet Gelson Martins rejected by the Portuguese club.
As reported by newspaper A Bola today, the Gunners tried to take advantage of the chaos at Alvalade to take one of the players on a bargain, but failed to do that.
Sporting will be demanding at least €45m for Gelson Martins, which may sound a lot, but it’s still less than the €60m release clause which used to be the tag price a few months ago.
The rejected offer is seen as a missed opportunity for the 23-year-old to leave for a big Premier League club, and the claims state he isn’t happy about it.
Gelson wants to leave Sporting through the front door, and that means the traditional way, with a club paying a fee for his transfer.
But he hasn’t ruled out terminating his contract for just cause due to the attacks at Alcochete last month. That would allow him to leave the club for free, and could still be a possibility in case Sporting continue to play hard against his exit in the summer.
Meanwhile, Arsenal must raise their bid for the player, because fighting his own club in court is Gelson’s last option to sort his departure.
