Premier League pair Leicester City and Watford reportedly want Sporting Lisbon’s Gonzalo Plata but he will cost far more than £20m.
Sporting Lisbon are desperate to keep Gonzalo Plata out of Leicester City’s grasp and could raise the youngster’s release clause to a staggering £88 million, according to A Bola.
Like their Primeira Liga rivals Benfica and Porto, Sporting are not the easiest club to negotiate with. Just ask Manchester United.
Six years after a protracted deal for Marcos Rojo left Ed Woodward exhausted, the Bruno Fernandes saga felt once again like pulling teeth at Old Trafford.
United finally got their man, but it took months of negotiations and the payment of what could end up being £67 million (BBC).
So Leicester and Watford surely knew they were in with a challenge when they expressed an interest in Plata. The Sun (15 March, page 60) claimed that the Premier League duo wanted to spend £20 million on the Ecuadorian starlet, but that always felt a little pie in the sky.
As you might have guessed, Sporting have responded by threatening to double Plata’s release clause from £45 million to closer to £90 million.
Given that the 19-year-old has made less than 25 career league appearances, it is fair to say that Plata is a long way off being worthy of a place in the top ten most expensive footballers of all time.
Leicester and Watford have two choices. Either give up now or prepare themselves for months of haggling, hassling and a relentless stream of rumours.
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