Reported Liverpool and Manchester City target Nuno Mendes is very unlikely to still be a Sporting Lisbon player next season, former Portugal international Costinha told Goal.
One of Europe’s most feted academies appears to have unearthed another gem.
After giving us Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Nani and more, Sporting Lisbon are on their way to turning 18-year-old Nuno Mendes into one of the continent’s most exciting full-backs.
The jet-heeled teenager has been a revelation under Ruben Amorim this season, starring as Sporting cruise towards their first Primeira Liga title in two decades.
According to Calciomercato, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are going head-to-head for the newly-capped Portugal international with the summer transfer window just two months away.
And Costinha, the former Porto midfielder who played 56 times for his country in the late-90s and early-2000s, believes it is only a matter of time before Mendes is packing his bags.
“I don’t think he will be here next season. If I was a scout for the big clubs in Europe, I would look at him. Eighteen-years-old, a left-back – and there aren’t many left-backs in the world with that quality – then I would definitely go and pick him,” Costinha said.
“He is strong physically and in his head. He has an excellent left foot and he has very good pace. Sometimes, I think he needs to learn more about defending, but he is only 18. He has so much time to improve.
“I don’t think he is going to stay here for a long time.”
With doubts swirling about Kostas Tsimikas’s future, just one year after the seldom-seen Greek international swapped Olympiakos for Anfield, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool may be in the market for a new left-back.
And Mendes, technically-gifted, hugely-talented and blessed with bags of potential, is about as typical a Liverpool signing as it is possible to imagine.
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