Real Madrid have joined the race to sign Chelsea FC, Manchester United and FC Barcelona target Andre Gomes, according to reports from the Spanish media.
Gomes has had a breakthrough season at Valencia, churning out eye-catching performances for Los Che, despite the fact that the club had a disappointing campaign and finished 12th in the La Liga table. What has really caught the eye of top European clubs is Gomes’ ability to play accurate long balls to switch the direction of play, and find more space for his teammates.
His exploits with Valencia have attracted the interest of a number of top European clubs, with the likes of Chelsea and Juventus having bids in the region of €40 million turned down by Valencia [via Gazzetta dello Sport].
Meanwhile, Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester United have also been linked with a move for Gomes, as newly appointed manager Jose Mourinho looks to rebuild his squad ahead of the upcoming season.
Real Madrid’s arch rivals Barcelona have also been linked with a move for Gomes, as the Catalans look for a long term replacement for their iconic midfielder Andres Iniesta. Interestingly, like Iniesta (in the earlier days of his career), Gomes too can operate from both advanced and deep midfield positions.
Now however, Madrid-based Spanish newspaper Marca claim that Los Blancos have been interested in the Portuguese midfielder ever since he scored this scorcher against them at the Santiago Bernabeu, earlier this year.
While recent reports have linked Real Madrid with star midfielder Paul Pogba, Juventus’ asking price for the Frenchman (believed to be in the region of €120 million), might just be too high for Los Blancos.
The signing of Gomes from Valencia could be an ideal one for Real Madrid, as their star German midfielder Toni Kroos has been linked with a move away from the Bernabeu, with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola showing a lot of interest.
Also, with Colombian star James Rodriguez and Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic failing to cement a place as a regular in manager Zinedine Zidane’s starting lineup, Gomes could be the ideal man to take charge of the midfield at the Bernabeu.
The added advantage of signing Gomes is that Real Madrid will have a quality utility player in their ranks. As mentioned earlier, the 22-year-old can operate both from deep and advanced midfield positions. He has also been deployed on the wings for both Valencia and Portugal.
However, figuring out a proper transfer fee for the 22-year-old could be more complicated than previously expected. According to reports, Benfica are entitled to 25 per cent of Gomes’ transfer fee due to a sell-on clause between them and Valencia, which is thought to be the main reason why Los Che want a higher price.
Valencia’s current asking price for Gomes is at €65 million, according to Marca. While this still makes the Portuguese a much cheaper prospect than Pogba, it will be interesting to see who Real Madrid go for this summer.
