Liverpool have agreed to terms with Sporting Lisbon winger Gelson Martins, according to reports. The Merseysiders are on the hunt for a Philippe Coutinho replacement as the Brazilian joined Barcelona in a £142m deal earlier this month. We have been linked with a host of players.
But, according to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha (h/t Metro), the Reds appear to have made good progress on a deal for Sporting sensation Martins. As per the report, Liverpool have offered Martins a contract worth £4.4m a year – or around £80k a week – which is around five times his current salary.
Following Coutinho’s sale, Jurgen Klopp has a lot of money to spend and is eyeing a couple of players to strengthen his areas of concern.
Sporting will only sell Martins if Liverpool activate Martins’ release clause, which is set at £53m. Liverpool are only prepared to pay around £26.5m. However, it is said that the Reds are ready to pay more than five times what Martins currently earns in the Primeira Liga. Liverpool are reportedly offering him wages worth £4.4m-a-year.
The Portugal international is believed to be ‘very pleased’ with the offer, though agreeing on a price with Sporting for the rapid winger is proving to be difficult.
In an effort to fend off Liverpool’s interest, Sporting are preparing to open talks with Martins over a new contract so that they can force the Premier League club to pay more, as Klopp is said to be a big admirer of the player. They want to extend his current three-and-a-half-year deal until 2022 and raise his release clause to £88m, with the Portuguese outfit very certain that the player’s value would shoot up after summer’s World Cup in Russia.
The winger is under contract in Lisbon until 2022 and the club are clearly doing all they can to hold on to the youngster. The 22-year-old has proven himself to be a top talent and a great prospect for the future, not only for Sporting but also for Portugal as we saw at the Confederations Cup last summer.
Martins, who predominantly plays on the right wing, has scored 9 goals in 29 matches in all competitions this season for Sporting.
Martins is young as well as talented and seems to be the type of player that manager Klopp can make a real difference with. The raw ingredients seem to be there with the Portuguese, and a move to Anfield could certainly unlock it all.
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