Liverpool plotting a move for Benfica winger Nico Gaitan is all over the web now. It could be in newspapers tomorrow, if not already, while Portuguese newspaper A Bola have already published the story on their web site.
But, really, does it carry any iota of truth? The 26-year-old has been a long term target of Manchester United. Back in April 2012, Jason Burt of the The Telegraph published the story that says Manchester United had agreed a deal to sign Gaitan, which we all know the story didn’t turn out to be true.
Back in November, Portuguese newspaper O Jogo reported Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were keeping a close tab on the winger. In the same month, A Bola reported that David Moyes, the ex-manager of Manchester United, was plotting a triple raid on Benfica, with Gaitan one of them.
In December, Benfica president had revealed that any potential suitor would have to pay €20m for Gaitan, and once again O Jogo linked Manchester United with a move.
Gaitan to United rumour was heard again in the January transfer window while last month, Gaitan was linked again with United, when David Moyes made a scouting trip to watch Benfica in action against Porto.
No where, Liverpool were mentioned as a potential suitor for Gaitan. In March, talksport however reported Liverpool’s interest in the winger, although they mentioned “reports from Portugal”.
After mid week of April, there was hardly any news relating to Gaitan on transfer fronts. Today, a UK based website ran a transfer story about Liverpool being in a pole position to land Gaitan. The article suggests that a bid of £20 million should be enough to persuade the Portuguese giants to sell the player.
The interesting thing is that there’s no source mentioned here, which leads us to two possibilities: a) either they have an insider source that no Portuguese newspapers have or b) they don’t have a source and are speculating.
This morning, A Bola has now cited the same UK website as their source. The story has also made it into the BBC gossip column, giving it more wings to spread.
Had the ‘Gaitan to Liverpool’ rumour been a prominent fixture in Portuguese media (a more legitimate source when talking about any player of that league), you may be inclined to believe the story. Right now, there are no real sources so Liverpool fans shouldn’t hold their breath.
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