Leicester City have made a move for Sporting Lisbon starlet Nuno Mendes in the past week and are aware of the £40 million release clause in his contract, according to CM Jornal.
There’s a good reason why the current Primeira Liga leaders are desperate to tie their teenage left-back down to a new contract.
Mendes might be just 16 league games into his senior career but the Portugal U21 international already has some of the biggest clubs in Europe batting their eyelashes at him.
No wonder Sporting are desperate to sign off on a long-term deal, complete with pay rise and shiny new release clause in the region of £63 million – one that would require Leicester to part with a club-record fee for their latest transfer target.
The two clubs, then, appear to be in a race against each other.
The Foxes have expressed their interest in Mendes in the past few days and it remains to be seen whether the Lisbon giants can convince their prized asset to put pen to paper before the January window opens.
Liverpool and Arsenal have also been linked with Mendes of late but there are few better managers than Brendan Rodgers for the buccaneering full-back to learn from.
Philippe Coutinho, Raheem Sterling, Moussa Dembele, James Maddison, Kieron Tierney and, latterly, Wesley Fofana have all gone from strength to strength under the ambitious Northern Irishman.
“Nuno Mendes is dazzling,” Sporting Lisbon president Frederico Varandas told Record.
“I have no doubt Nuno Mendes will be the future left-back of the (Portuguese) national team. We have players of unbelievable talent (in the academy).”
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