Sporting Club de Portugal are demanding €80m for Aston Villa target Pedro Gonçalves, a figure the Villans will not be paying.
That’s according to the Ataque supplement of Jornal de Noticias, who say the Portuguese side will only consider selling the forward if he leaves for the value of his release clause.
The newspaper explains that Sporting coach Ruben Amorim has demanded that Gonçalves is part of his squad for next season as he considers him ‘essential’ to his plans moving forwards.
The plan is for him to continue at Alvalade and not join the big names who have already departed this summer or in recent transfer windows.
That’s despite the existence of ‘interested parties’ such as Aston Villa and Inter Milan, both of whom had been keen on a potential deal in this transfer window.
They’ve made enquiries for the player, but Sporting have made it clear they would only consider a deal at the value of his release clause, which is €80m. Neither Aston Villa nor Milan were able to ‘cover that amount’.
One potential sticking point is the fact that Gonçalves wants to be the highest paid player at the Portuguese club, something which will require them going above €1.5m a year.
They are yet to do that and while there’s no suggestion he’ll push for an exit if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s a potential problem to keep an eye on.
For now, it appears he won’t be leaving Sporting this summer, with Aston Villa and other suitors unable to match the €80m demand made by Sporting.
