Aston Villa chasing Portuguese midfielder with HUGE transfer release clause: report

Aston Villa are reportedly interested in signing a top-level attacking midfield man in the January transfer window.

Villa’s struggles in the Premier League this season mirrored a difficult transfer win but the club’s recruitment team have turned their attentions to January and identified a number of possible targets.

Of course, they’re not all new targets, strictly speaking. One player who is reportedly of interest to Villa in the next transfer window was also on Unai Emery and Monchi’s radar early in the summer before their desire cooled because of an injury.

But Sporting CP midfielder Pedro Gonçalves had no issues finding form on his return from injury and is apparently wanted by Villa as an experienced option with more than 200 matches under his belt for the Portuguese champions.

It’s another link with a player who operates in the same areas of the pitch as Villa’s loanee players, suggesting a possible willingness to let Donyell Malen leave and an awareness that planning for life after Jadon Sancho is better started now than later.

Reports indicate that Sporting are already in the process of negotiating a new contract with Gonçalves, which we can assume is purely coincidental to this Villa link. His current deal expires in 2027 and reportedly contains a release clause that could be as high as €80 million.

Bayer Leverkusen firmed up their interest after Villa stepped back but were supposedly a long way short of an acceptable bid.

The next Bruno Fernandes?

Gonçalves had a previous spell in England, briefly featuring in the academy set-up before joining Nuno Espírito Santo’s Jorge Mendes-steered Wolverhampton Wanderers first team as far back as 2018.

He didn’t have any kind of meaningful impact at Molineux, making just one League Cup appearance, and was reportedly suffering from homesickness when he headed back to Portugal to sign for Famalicão. He contributed to their highest-ever finish, taking them to sixth place in the table in 2019/20.

According to Portuguese football expert and World Soccer correspondent Tom Kundert, Gonçalves was once regarded as the heir to Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes.

“Just a few months down the line and the flying start made by Pedro Gonçalves suggests the Lisbon club have hit gold again,” Kundert said in 2021.

“He may not have the long-distance shooting ability or wondrous passing range of Fernandes but Pote, as he is nicknamed in Portugal, is an equally intelligent footballer. The combination of positional sense, skilful feet, excellent decision-making and composure in front of goal makes Goncalves a formidable weapon.”

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