Chelsea, City & Man Utd in £52m transfer race for Sporting Lisbon's Nuno Mendes

Chelsea have entered the race to sign Sporting Lisbon defender Nuno Mendes, who is also wanted by Manchester United and Manchester City.

The teenage left-back played an instrumental role in the Lisbon-based giants first Portuguese league title success in 19 years, which was secured earlier this month.

However, the nature of the leading Portuguese clubs means that they are constantly open to the idea of cashing-in on their star players due to their precarious financial position.

Mendes had enjoyed a breakthrough season at Sporting Lisbon and is now a member of the senior Portugal international squad going into this summer’s European Championships final.

Of Angolan descent, Mendes has lived in the Portuguese capital for his entire life and he joined Sporting’s famed youth system - which honed the likes of Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo - aged 10.

He broke through into the club’s first-team at the end of the 2019-20 campaign and following the exit of Marcos Acuna to Sevilla last summer, he became the first choice option in the position - making 35 appearances this season.

A report in Record now claim that the 18-year-old’s exploits have attracted the attention of Chelsea, who have entered the race for the player.

Ben Chilwell was signed by the Blues last summer in a big-money deal while Marcos Alonso and Emerson Palmieri are also in the position - although at least one of the latter is likely to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.

Which club should Nuno Mendes join this summer? Comment below

Manchester City are thought to be leading the race to sign the Portuguese player as they seek a new specialist left-back having had uncertainty in the position for some time.

Benjamin Mendy is the only natural left-back at the club but his form has been unconvincing for some time, with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Joao Cancelo both deployed often in the position.

City are likely to be the club with the greatest economic potential due to their lack of urgency in other positions, with a central striker likely to be the only position with greater priority.

Manchester United are also in the race to sign Mendes but are unlikely to prioritise the position due to their pressing needs to invest in other areas of the squad.

A central striker, right-sided forward, holding midfielder and central defender are all likely to be greater areas of concern for United this summer.

Luke Shaw has enjoyed the best season of his career in the position while Alex Telles is a more than able deputy having arrived from FC Porto last summer.

It has been suggested that the Brazilian Telles could be used as a makeweight in the deal to land the teenager, but those deals are never as straightforward as suggested.

The player’s agent is Miguel Pinho — who also represents Bruno Fernandes, who swapped Sporting for Old Trafford last year, which could play in United’s favour.

Mendes is set to be in-demand this summer and his future is worth keeping an eye on.