An agreement has been reached to increase the buyout clause of a player Liverpool and Arsenal reportedly approached earlier this year to €70 million (around £62m), according to Record.
It was this summer claimed that Arsenal had ‘come forward with a declaration of intent’ to sign the player in question, Nuno Mendes (O Jogo), following earlier reports that Liverpool had made contact with his employers, Sporting Clube de Portugal (Record).
Mendes had already signed a new five-year contract at the start of the summer.
But interest from the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal is since said to have caused Sporting to want to ‘safeguard’ the 18-year-old, along with their other ‘main pearls’, Goncalo Inacio and Matheus Nunes, in whom many European clubs are ‘already aware’.
And despite reports Mendes was reluctant to alter his existing clause, which stands at €45m (around £39.9m), an accord has now been struck between Sporting and the player’s representatives, according to Record.
Neither Liverpool – who already employ Andrew Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas – nor Arsenal – Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka and Sead Kolasinac – currently appear desperate to reinforce in Mendes’s position.
Liverpool and Arsenal fans – would Mendes be a good addition?
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