Premier League duo Leeds United and Nottingham Forest both failed to meet Benfica’s demands for Goncalo Ramos with the Portugal international now valued in the £100 million bracket.
Say what you want about Leeds’ recruitment policy under Andrea Radrizzani and Victor Orta, they certainly don’t lack ambition.
Last summer, the Yorkshire giants made club-record bids for both Cody Gakpo and Charles de Ketelaere; the latter opting for AC Milan while the former would join Liverpool a few months later.
Radrizzani, Leeds’ Milan-born chairman, then admitted that a pair of Italy internationals – Nicolo Zaniolo and Federico Chiesa – had featured on their radar too. It’s certainly hard to imagine that Javi Gracia’s side would not have had a few more points and a damn sight more goals to their name if Chiesa, Zaniolo or Gakpo were plying their trade at Elland Road these days.
Perhaps the biggest ‘what if?’ moment, however, came when Benfica rejected their summer approach for a man who, like Gakpo, would showcase his talents to a much wider audience during the Qatar World Cup, sending his price-tag skyrocketing.
Leeds and Nottingham Forest wanted Benfica’s Goncalo Ramos
For club and country, Ramos has no fewer than 29 goals and 10 assists this season; a World Cup hat-trick against Switzerland preceding a dazzling Champions League obliteration of Club Brugge.
And, with the colossal sums earned via the sales of Darwin Nunez and Enzo Fernandez burning a hole in Benfica’s pocket, A Bola believes that the Primeira Liga leaders are unlikely to let Ramos go for a penny less than his £107 million release clause this summer.
You don’t need a PHD in mathematics or economics to realise that Ramos’ value has increased somewhat since Nottingham Forest saw a £25 million bid rejected back in August.
AS believe that Leeds made an ‘offer’ of their own around the same time. It is not certain how much their bid was. Though it is likely to be around the same fee they were willing to stump up for both Gakpo and De Ketelaere. Somewhere in the £30 million bracket.
Even a bid triple that size may fall short these days.
‘Stronger than Cristiano Ronaldo’
“(Ramos has made) a huge leap,” beams former Benfica hero Rui Aguas.
“(He has) clear potential. Physical, technical, a guy who plays in the air like you don’t normally see nowadays. He’s very complete and he participates defensively. He is the player I most identify with since I stopped playing.
“Goncalo is stronger (than Cristiano) Ronaldo), because he fills much more space. He is a player with incredible mobility,” Aguias adds; the debate over who should lead the line for Portugal very much ongoing.
“In finishing, (Ronaldo) is above almost everyone in the world. Cristiano brings experience. Goncalo brings physical freshness when the team loses the ball. That, Cristiano does not do.”
The post Now worth £107m; Leeds and Forest failed with bids for 29-goal star appeared first on HITC.
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