Sporting go all out for Issa Doumbia, weigh up spending big | OneFootball

Sporting’s qualification for the Champions League, secured after a 3-0 win over Gil Vicente, has given fresh momentum to the Lions’ board strategy for the transfer market. After securing Rodrigo Zalazar and all but finalizing the Pedro Lima deal, the green-and-whites are now going all in for Issa Doumbia.

According to Record, a Sporting delegation will travel to Milan this week to meet with Venezia officials and try to finally unlock the transfer of the Italian midfielder. Sporting want to wrap up the deal quickly and avoid any further rise in competition for the Italy Under-21 international.

The 22-year-old continues to attract strong interest across the European market. In addition to the Lions, Roma, Newcastle, Everton, Brentford and Benfica have already shown interest to Venezia. In the last few hours, Juventus have also been mentioned, although no formal approach has been made so far.

Given this scenario, the Italians have toughened their stance in negotiations. The €15 million initially requested is no longer enough to complete the transfer, and Venezia are trying to take advantage of the growing international interest to maximize their financial return.

Despite concerns beginning to emerge at Alvalade due to the rising figures, the administration led by Frederico Varandas remains determined to secure the midfielder. The Sporting delegation will have room to make the offer more flexible and even go beyond the €20 million mark through add-ons if that allows the deal to be completed by the end of the week.

On the player’s side, the desire remains clear. Issa Doumbia sees Sporting as the most appealing option for the next stage of his career, especially because of the chance to play in the Champions League, an objective he has already stated publicly in recent interviews.

The midfielder has already gathered detailed information about the Alvalade club and is now waiting for Venezia’s authorization to move forward with personal negotiations with the Lions. If the transfer goes through, the Italian will have the task of filling the gap left by Hidemasa Morita, who has already said goodbye to Sporting’s fans after the win over Gil Vicente.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.