Rumour Mongering: Lisbon Expect £43 million for Gelson Martins

Remember earlier this week when everything seemed pleasant and Liverpool had two fantastic signings in the bag? That was fun.

Roma and Liverpool are still in negotiations over a £40M fee for Mohamed Salah which Liverpool believe to be too high a price for the Egyptian winger. While those conversations stall however, the wild speculation must continue. The contingency plans, should the Salah deal fall through, include the likes of Bayern Munich’s Douglas Costa, Lazio’s Keita Baldé Diao, and Sporting Lisbon’s Gelson Martins.

The Martins rumours have gained a bit of steam in recent days, with new reports putting Martins’ price tag at £43 million, slightly above the one that Liverpool are reportedly unwilling to pay for Salah. According to the latest report (from Portuguese newspaper A Bola), Klopp is the one urging Liverpool to consider alternatives to Salah, just in case. Of course, given that the reason for the ‘just in case’ is a high price, it seems unlikely Liverpool would be willing to give up that deal to pursue another winger who is more expensive. But that’s just logic speaking.

According to A Bola, Liverpool have held firm and have told Lisbon they will not pay anything more than £34 million for Martins, which is still more than the initial amount Liverpool were willing to pay for Salah (£28M, for anyone who isn’t keeping notes).

All in all, this rumour still doesn’t have much meat to it and does appear to be almost entirely fuelled by someone in Portugal wanting to drum up interest in Martins.