With one week left until the end of the transfer window, Sporting are still hopeful of making big sales to balance their finances, even though they struggle to find buyers.
Following their title winning campaign last season, the likes of Nuno Mendes, Pedro Gonçalves, João Palhinha, Jovane Cabral and Matheus Nunes were all seen as players who could bring in a big profit for the Lions, but bids never arrived at Alvalade.
The Brazilian midfielder was at one point targeted by Everton, with claims from Portugal saying the Toffees were close to signing him in an €18m deal.
At that time, Sport Witness pointed out that the agreement wasn’t as close as they were saying, even though Sporting and Nunes were both excited about the possibility.
Among those who take care of the 22-year-old, there’s a hand from Jorge Mendes’ company Gestifute. And at the time those rumours were being pushed, the super agent was also working in the talks between Everton and Nuno Espírito Santo, who was free in the market following his exit from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Nunes’ move to the Goodison Park was approved by the Portuguese manager, who got close to the job. His arrival at the club, however, ended up collapsing, as he took the offer from Tottenham Hotspur and Rafa Benitez ended up being signed by the Toffees instead.
Benitez had other plans for Everton’s summer, and that’s why Sporting now see it as very difficult that an offer from the Toffees will arrive at the end of the window.
According to our sources, the Lisbon side feel like either he or João Palhinha are the players who can still be sold, as anything can happen in the coming days.
But that will depend on the potential bidders.
