Liverpool have reportedly agreed personal terms with Gelson Martins over a move to Anfield but have been told they will have to £89m to get the Sporting Lisbon attacker.
The Reds are looking for a replacement for Philippe Coutinho, after the Brazilian sealed his £142million move to Barcelona last week, and have been linked with a number of players since.
However, it would appear that Martins is Jurgen Klopp’s preferred option to replace the former Reds playmaker, with Metro reporting that Correio da Manha claim the Sporting youngster has agreed to move to Anfield.
The Portuguese outlet reports that the 22-year-old has given the nod to a contract worth around £4.4million-a-season, although the Reds are yet to agree a fee with Sporting for the player.
Martins currently has a buy-out clause of £53m but the Daily Mirror claims that Sporting are ready to exercise their option to pay the player £1.3m in order to increase his buy-out to £89m.
Is is thought that the Reds were willing to pay the original buy-out figure but that there will be some major negotiating ahead if Sporting try to force them to pay the increased fee.
Martins has developed into one of Portuguese football’s brightest young talents and although he favours playing out wide, he has the ability to play in the attacking midfield role that Coutinho occupied so successfully for the Reds for five years.
