From Portugal: Porto star youngster Diogo Leite closing in on big money move

Central defender Diogo Leite is now very close to completing a move away from Porto in the near future, according to Portugal's A Bola.

Leite, who teammate and Portuguese legend Pepe even described as the “best central defender in Portugal” earlier this season, has only played 3 league matches for the Portuguese outfit this campaign, including two very late cameo appearances.

But despite his lack of game time, as the words of Pepe show, he's a very highly regarded talent, and still just 21 years of age, the U17 European champion is in demand.

Protected with a €40million release clause, and contracted to the club until 2023, there would ordinarily be no urgency for Porto to sell one of their biggest assets for the future, but as A Bola point out, Porto are required to raise close to 100 million euros by the end of the 2019-20 season, and therefore are open to selling one of their stars of the future for much less than his release clause.

Indeed, Jorge Mendes is acting as the intermediate in the negotiations despite not actually being the player’s agent, and a deal to see Leite move to Valencia for just 20 million euros is, according to A Bola, “practically closed”.

With Jorge Mendes now involved in proceedings, though, while Leite’s departure looks possible, his destination could still be contested.

Diogo Leite. Photo author: Елена Рыбакова. License link.