He was already on Manchester United’s transfer radar but Jose Mourinho’s side now face competition from Barcelona to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder Gelson Martins, report Record.
The Portuguese source claims that the Catalan giants have recently deployed scouts in Portugal to keep a track of Gelson’s progress.
A winger by trade, the 21-year-old stole the show when featuring against Real Madrid in the Champions League last month and Manchester United were immediately alerted to his talents following that performance.
Unfortunately however, Barcelona’s rival interest is real with the club’s International Director for Sports, Ariedo Braida revealing the club’s actions recently.
Speaking to Record, Braida claimed: “He’s a young player with a lot of talent who Barcelona are observing and will continue to observe.
“We have reports on various players and Gelson is one of them.”
Boasting a 60 million release clause in his contract at the Jose Alvalade, it remains to be seen whether Sporting will hold out for such a fee but a transfer away from Portugal looks some way off anyway.
Braida did cast doubt on Barcelona making a move for Gelson in the forthcoming January transfer window however, claiming: “A January signing? No. We’re just watching him. We’ve not even spoken with anyone about Gelson.”