Following the recent reports regarding Aston Villa’s interest in Pedro Gonçalves, it seems Sporting are already getting prepared for the winger’s potential exit.
Portuguese newspaper O Jogo today features a piece about the Lions’ interest in Famalicão’s Ivan Jaime. It’s said even though there’s no ‘concrete advanceme’ for the signing yet, the player is being ‘carefully watched’ by the Lisbon side.
It turns out those two transfers are linked because Pedro Gonçalves used to play for Famalicão as well, and when he moved to Sporting, they kept 50% of a future sale. Now besides trying to sign Jaime, the Lions also want a bigger share of Gonçalves, looking to buy at least 25% extra. So those are two negotiations that the clubs should engage in soon.
Speaking of Aston Villa and Gonçalves, O Jogo points out that their interest has grown following the winger’s performances in the Europa League. And even though the Lisbon side would like to keep him for next season, they didn’t stop ‘studying alternatives’.
The 24-year-old is protected by an €80m release clause, and those high figures are said to be enough to keep the interested clubs away for now.
But Aston Villa’s chase now seems to have been enough to convince Sporting to go for potential replacements in the market.
