It seems that Tottenham Hotspur have had a pretty interesting transfer mission this week. That’s because as reported by newspaper A Bola, club scouts travelled to Portugal to watch Sporting star Gelson Martins.
The scouting was made in a pretty important local match, which the Lions’ Portuguese Cup semifinal against Northern giants Porto.
Sporting, who had lost the first leg 1-0, managed to win the game this time, and ended up getting the qualification to the final with a victory in the penalty shootout.
Gelson Martins had a pretty good display, and that’s the reason why A Bola believes that the scouts became impressed with his performance.
It’s been over a year since the 22-year-old has been getting attention from Europe’s big clubs, and the local media expect him to leave Sporting for good money.
Currently protected by a €60m release clause, the player has a contract running until 2022. That means the Lions will hold him as much as they can, until a very good bid comes up to convince them to sell their homegrown star.
But Tottenham also scouted Sporting at the weekend, in a match against Belenenses, and then A Bola were sure the target was Bruno Fernandes, protected by a €100m clause, who the Portuguese media had just linked Spurs with.
Fernandes put in a great display, with a goal and two assists, and Tottenham were again said to be impressed.
So, if we take A Bola’s word, we’d have to believe that at the weekend Spurs scouted one Sporting player before then changing their mind within a few days and looking at another.
It all seems like assumptions, and probably is. What we know is that Tottenham are scouting Sporting repeatedly right now, with Portuguese club’s releasing official lists, and that’s a new thing… suggesting a certain level of interest in someone.
