According to reports, Manchester United have firmed up their interest in Sporting Lisbon winger Gelson Martins.
The Portuguese winger has been grabbing eyeballs lately after some inspiring performances in recent matches. The Sporting academy product, who made his senior team debut in August last year, has made 41 appearances, scoring 6 times for the club.
He has also been a regular for the “Leones” in the UEFA Champions League this season. Although he primarily plays on the wings and is quite a handful there, the Cape Verde-born player can even operate at right back, a trait which helped him cement a place in the National team.
He has been on the radar of a handful of clubs for the last few weeks and with the January transfer window coming up, the interest has piqued. The mentioned clubs have been the big ones with teams such as Real Madrid and Manchester City involved. But United might have the upper hand in the transfer with the two clubs having previously engaged in business over the transfer of Ronaldo and Nani in 2003 and 2007 respectively.
And both the transfers were a bona-fide success with the players establishing themselves and winning all the trophies while at the club. And Cristiano Ronaldo’s success needs no mentioning.
Currently, United might not seem to be short on wingers when you look at the numbers but they might have a dearth of quality and depth in coming days. Antonio Valencia has been converted to a fullback. Juan Mata is not the quintessential winger. Martial is suffering from the second season syndrome while Memphis Depay is almost certain to leave the club. Hence, with only Mkhitaryan blossoming currently (even he is injured now) Martin’s supposed transfer doesn’t seem to be out of the ordinary.
His versatile nature will allow Manchester United to rotate their fullbacks to a greater degree. Mourinho has been unconvinced by Fosu-Mensah and Darmian and has Valencia as his steadfast option. Hence, an inclination towards his fellow countryman is understandable.
Martins made his national team debut earlier this year in a World Cup qualifier against Andorra, coming on as a substitute for Pepe in the 74th minute. He also appeared in another qualifier against the Faroe Islands. He has previously represented A Seleção at the U-18, U-19, U-20, U-21 and U-23 level.
But with a number of other clubs also in the race and Sporting seemingly unwilling to let go of their star man, this transfer might get stretched before it can learn its fate.
