It seems that a crazy situation has been brewing at Portuguese club Sporting CP in recent weeks. Last month a group of 50 masked men stormed the Sporting training ground and assaulted players and boss Jorge Jesus.
Dutch striker Bas Dost suffered cuts to his head, while boss Jesus is also reported to have received injuries in the attack. Goalkeeper Rui Patricio and William Carvalho were also reportedly targets of the attack.
The clubs president Bruno De Carvalho had criticised individual players after their Europa League quarter-final defeat to Atletico Madrid. There are even unconfirmed reports that Carvalho had a hand in the training ground invasion.
Players have acted
Now media reports suggest that a number of the Sporting players have terminated their contracts with the Lisbon club, including highly-rated goalkeeper Rui Patricio and youngster Daniel Prodence, citing ‘just cause’ as the reason for their potential termination.
Reportedly, Bas Dost, Bruno Fernandes, William Carvalho and Gelson Martins have also asked for termination of their deals. This spells bad news for Sporting, as it could just be the start of an exodus.
If their star players walk away from the club as free agents, then the whole squad could leave and Sporting would receive no fees for any of the players.
Could lose an absolute fortune
The crisis would mean that the Portuguese giants would lose an absolute fortune in transfer fees. Carvalho had previously been linked with big-money moves to Everton, Arsenal and West Ham.
However, the midfielder may now walk away on a free transfer. The same goes for highly-rated winger Gelson Martins, who has long been linked with moves to Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool.
I am sure picking up Martins on a free would be of great interest to all three clubs. However, after failing to sign Lyon attacking midfielder Nabil Fekir, Martins could prove a very good alternative for Liverpool.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp is looking to strengthen his squad for next season, with the Reds odds of 5/1 to win the Premier League title next season.
Dost could be the biggest loss to Sporting. The Dutchman was the clubs top scorer last season in all competitions, scoring 33 times. The 29-year-old has in fact been prolific virtually everywhere he has played. Premier League Newcastle had recently been linked with a move for the striker.
In short, Sporting could find themselves very low on players in the near future and very low on funds, as the players who are leaving are the ones they would have received big money for in the past.
Uncertain what will happen
It seems that there are now major doubts over the future of many of Sporting’s top players. The Portuguese club simply cannot afford to lose all their key players, while receiving no fees.
It seems unlikely that Sporting and the clubs hierarchy are going to let the players leave easily. The best thing for the club would be if the players in question could arrange moves elsewhere for fees, which would mean the players would not have to return to the club.
It would also mean that they would not have to go through what no doubt is a legal minefield when it comes to contractual terms of their potential exits from the club.
Whatever happens it is an extraordinary situation for a club of Sporting to find themselves in. If those who invaded the training ground are true supporters then they may have just cost their club very dearly by their behaviour.
Will there now be a mass exodus from Sporting this summer?
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