Reported Liverpool and Arsenal target Nuno Mendes is an ‘unbelievable talent’ and will soon become Portugal’s first-choice left-back, Sporting Lisbon president Frederico Varandas has told Record.
Is there a more prosperous academy in European football than the one belonging to Lisbon’s green-and-white clad giants?
After all, ten of the 14 players who represented Portugal in the Euro 2016 final honed their trade at Sporting with Joao Moutinho, Rui Patricio, Gelson Martins, Nani and, yes, Cristiano Ronaldo going on to shine at the very top level of the game.
Mendes might still be a teenager but it seems only a matter of time before he too is following in their footsteps.
Both Liverpool and Arsenal have made approaches for Mendes in recent weeks, according to Record and O Jogo, with Sporting now desperate to tie their prized asset down to a new contract complete with a £40 million release clause (A Bola).
“Nuno Mendes is dazzling,” Varandas says of his in-demand youngster. “Just let the years go by and they will get there.
“I have no doubt that Nuno Mendes will be the future left-back of the (Portuguese) National Team. We have players of unbelievable talent (in the academy).”
Left-back Mendes is not the only Sporting-based starlet who has caught the eye of both Arsenal and Liverpool.
Speaking to O Democrata in October, the father of 17-year-old sensation Joelson Fernandes confirmed that Jurgen Klopp’s Premier League champions had expressed an interest, along with a Wolves side always on the lookout for Europe’s most exciting prospects.
Arsenal, meanwhile, offered £18 million to bring Joelson to the Emirates, 17 years after they watched a blonde-tipped Ronaldo slip agonisingly through their grasp.
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