According to reports coming from Portugal, Joel Campbell is struggling while on loan at Sporting because he can’t seem to gel with manager, Jorge Jesus’, plans.

O Jogo [via Sport Witness] claims that Jesus wants Joel Campbell to become more of a ‘proper’ winger by looking for crosses instead of always dribbling into the centre. The issue is, with 21-year-old Gelson Martins starting games in the Costa Rican’s favoured position on the right, Campbell is finding this difficult.

The report comes a day after the same outlet claimed that Sporting fans were unhappy with Campbell’s celebration when he equalised against Tondela at the weekend.

The forward took his shirt off, receiving a booking as a result.

Apparently, fans disapproved of this and also the fact that he didn’t return to ball immediately to the centre, even though his goal came in extra time and it was unlikely that they would find the back of the net a second time.

It’s a shame if the fans have already turned on him considering he’s been far from terrible since going out on loan to the Portuguese side. He’s scored two goals in four appearances in their league. Although he’s finding it hard to get starts, he’s still not exactly what we’d call a flop.

Hopefully, O Jogo is right about one thing: that Jorge Jesus sees the potential in Campbell and that’s why he’s trying so hard to sandwich him into the side.