Vincent Kompany’s Burnley are not giving up on Jovane Cabral and plan to make an improved new offer for the Sporting Lisbon winger before the summer is out, as reported by A Bola.
When The Clarets completed the signing of Royal Antwerp’s Manuel Benson last week, it seemed that we could draw a line under their pursuit of another jet-heeled wideman. Especially after Jovane rebuffed Burnley’s advances, due to concerns over ‘the project’ at Turf Moot.
But Vincent Kompany is not a man who tends to give up without a fight.
And the Manchester City legend is not yet accepting defeat in his pursuit of a player who was valued by Sporting Lisbon at an eye-watering £23 million two years ago.
Burnley not giving up on Sporting Lisbon’s Jovane Cabral
Burnley, of course, are not going to pay anywhere near such a fee. According to Record, Sporting have already accepted an offer of just £4.5 million from the Lancashire outfit.
£3.5 million would be paid up front, with the rest due to arrive if Burnley succeed in bouncing back to the promised land of the Premier League at the first time of asking.
But agreeing a deal with Sporting is the easy bit. Finding an agreement with the player himself, it seems, is proving to be a somewhat tricker task. According to A Bola, Burnley plan to improve their initial offer as they look to twist the Cape Verde international’s arm.
Burnley’s impressive start to life under Kompany – four points from two Championship games – should also stand in their favour.
‘Better’ than Cristiano Ronaldo?
“I am not surprised by this interest. Jovane has already demonstrated his quality and still has a huge margin for progression,” former Sporting ace Pedrosa said when the now-24-year-old was being linked with the likes of West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur a couple of seasons ago.
“Sporting always has young people emerging (from the academy). If Jovane has the opportunity to prove himself abroad, this will happen.”
“Jovane is an asset to Sporting. He is a great talent. A great player,” former president Sousa Cintra added. “When I was signing the contract renewal with him, I wanted a bigger (release) clause. I wanted it to be 120 million.
“I told him at the time: ‘Look Jovane, you see Luis Figo or Cristiano Ronaldo, you’re going to be as good as they are ‘. And he answered me: ‘No Mr President, I’m going to be better’.”
Two years on, Sporting are willing to accept just £4.5 million on the back of Jovane’s disappointing loan spell at Lazio. But there’s clearly a talented player in there, somewhere.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
