Why Gelson Martins Is Not The Man For Klopp’s Liverpool
Liverpool FC are currently flying high with the tremendous success brought to them by summer signing Mohamed Salah, who is now the leading goalscorer in the Premier League with a tally of 12.
The Egyptian has outscored the likes of Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and even Sergio Aguero despite just being a winger. The Reds have clearly struck gold by signing the Egyptian winger, with the 25-year-old showing early signs of superstar quality at Anfield.
However, Salah’s incredible form isn’t going to stop the Reds from further strengthening their squad, as Portuguese publication A Bola (h/t Mirror) claim that Liverpool are targeting Sporting CP’s Gelson Martin.
The Portuguese star who reportedly has a release clause worth £53million, has been enjoying a marvelous spell in the Portuguese League. The 22-year-old made his first full debut in the 2015/16 season for Sporting and has managed to permanently find a place in the first-team thanks to impressive performances.
He notched up 7 goals in 42 appearances and was even compared to the sensational Cristiano Ronaldo, by the Benfica president, Domingos Estanislau.
“Gelson Martins will be the future Cristiano Ronaldo.” said the Benfica president.
It’s not just because both Ronaldo and Martins represent the same national team, but Gelson actually plays in a similar style of that of a younger version of Cristiano Ronaldo. Martins is naturally talented and can play on both wings but mainly prefers the right-hand side. He’s got a lot of pace and can beat a defender with ease.
The Portuguese winger does not get threatened by his opponent and uses his body to his advantage. The 22-year-old has been scouted by the likes of Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid and Chelsea, so Liverpool could find it tough to get a deal done for the youngster, with so much competition on the cards.
But a price tag of £53million makes Martins look extremely unattractive, especially when Liverpool managed to sign Salah for a much lesser sum than that. Apart from that, Klopp already has Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and plenty of other academy youth who he can develop, instead of spending so much money on the 22-year-old.
Jurgen Klopp is likely to go after Monaco’s Thomas Lemar who came really close to signing for the Reds in the summer. Lemar is definitely the kind of player Klopp would like in his squad rather than Gelson Martins.