Mendes faces club v country row after €12m move

TIAGO MENDES touched down in the United States with his new team-mates yesterday and walked straight into a potential club-versus-country row.

The 23-year-old midfielder, who put pen to paper on a reported €12 million transfer from Benfica late on Tuesday, has been called up into the Portugal squad for the Olympic Games.

His selection for would make him unavailable for the opening three weeks of the new campaign, with the tournament starting on August 11 and the gold medal match scheduled for August 28.