The last couple of days has seen transfer talk reach fever pitch in Portugal.
Iker Casillas and Didier Drogba have been heavily linked with a move to Porto, while key players at Benfica and Sporting could be leaving.
PortuGOAL rounds up the latest from the rumour mill.
Starting with Porto, Iker Casillas’ transfer to Os Dragões seems to be all but done. According to Marca, AS and O Jogo a deal between the Portuguese club and the legendary Spanish keeper has been agreed and that a transfer is imminent. Casillas’ agent Carlo Cutropia told MaisFutebol on Tuesday that “Iker wants Porto and Porto want Iker” and on Thursday night the official sponsor of Real Madrid, bwin, confirmed on Twitter that the Real Madrid captain is heading to Porto. Casillas will say his goodbye to the fans at the Santiago Bernabéu on Friday. Record reports a 2-year deal (including an option on another year) with a €3.5m salary a year has been struck.
Wednesday morning Portugal woke up to a Jornal de Notícias story of Porto talking to Didier Drogba to sign him on free transfer. It took less than 24 hours for A Bola to rubbish the rumours, as Drogba’s representative Theirno Seydi told them: “We woke up to the news and were as surprised as you were. We haven’t had any contact with Porto at all.”
Quaresma heading east
Ricardo Quaresma is always a popular man in the press and even though he’s still on vacation a lot has been written about the Portuguese international the last week. After praising Jorge Jesus last week, saying he’s a better manager than José Mourinho, his position at Porto has been weakened a great deal, according to A Bola. Porto want to sell Quaresma and Moscow is a likely destination, as Dynamo, Spartak and Lokomotiv Moscow all are interested in the service of “Harry Potter”.
A few miles north, Braga have sold both their strikers, Zé Luís (to Spartak Moscow) and Éder (to Swansea). Without any strikers in the squad, Os Arsenalistas have been targeting Porto’s Kléber, who had a great season, when not injured, at Estoril, and Benfica’s Rui Fonte. O Jogo says Kléber could arrive in a swap deal for Rafa, as Porto are interested in signing the talented winger.
In the capital, Nico Gaitán has showed up for pre-season at Benfica, but he won’t stay for long if the Portuguese press are to be believed. O Jogo, Record and A Bola have jumped the gun several times this summer and said a transfer to Man United was practically done, but a deal has yet to be announced. Anyway, A Bola hasn’t given up on Nico Gaitán to Man United and they claim the English side is willing to put close to €30m on the table plus a player, who isn’t part of Louis van Gaal’s plans. A Bola believes that may be Mexican striker Chicharito, on loan at Real Madrid last season, or Brazilian full-back Rafael. They would both be great signings for Benfica if a deal were to happen, which given A Bola’s accuracy on Gaitán stories this summer and previously, is unlikely.
Madrid clubs target Sporting pair
In the green part of Lisbon, William Carvalho and João Mário are still on vacation after their brilliant performances in the U21 Euros. A Bola reports that the two may be on their way to Madrid this summer, as Atlético sees Mário as a suitable replacement for Arda Turan and Real Madrid are interested in William Carvalho. It won’t be cheap for the two Madrid clubs, as Sporting are reluctant to see them go. Both are indispensable to Jorge Jesus, so it would take offers close to the players release clauses to see them leave Lisbon. William’s is €45m and João Mário’s is 30m.
After signing Costa Rica skipper Bryan Ruiz on a 3-year deal from Fulham earlier this week, Sporting tried to bring former striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel back to Lisbon. Sporting managed to get the Dutchman to Lisbon, but the Norwich striker’s €2.5m wage demands were too heavy for Bruno de Carvalho, so they failed to reach an agreement.
Speaking of former Primeira Liga strikers, Albert Meyong could be on his way back to Portugal. The Cameroonian has been linked with a return to Vitória Setúbal, for whom he has played previously for 8 seasons. However, the 34-year-old told A Bola on Thursday that his Angolan side Kabuscorp are unwilling to release him from his contract, which ends in November, so it’s unlikely we’ll see the Setúbal legend back in Portugal before then.
By Jan Hagen (for more from Jan follow him on Twitter @PortuBall)
