Sporting CP are taking Atletico Madrid to court over their signing of Gelson Martins and are demanding €105m, report A Bola.
The 23-year-old initially joined Atleti last summer as a ‘free agent’, according to their website, despite Sporting insisting they were due a fee of €45m for the player.
However, despite attempts to negotiate – the Madrid-based club offered €22m while Sporting held out for €40m – not agreement could be reached, Diario AS cite the Portuguese outlet as reporting.
Of Cape Verde heritage, Martins made 125 first-team appearances for the Lisbon-based giants and has also won 21 caps for Portugal while in a separate development Record report he is also claiming €3.2m from his former club.
A series of Sporting players left the club this summer on ‘free transfers’ but the Lisbon-based giants subsequently arrived at out-of-court settlements, such as Rui Patricio leaving for Wolves.
Gelson has failed to settle quickly in the Spanish capital, making just one league start so far this campaign.