Sporting step up move for Issa Doumbia, but Venezia spark bidding war | OneFootball

Issa Doumbia is Sporting’s top target to replace Hidemasa Morita in midfield, and negotiations between the Lions and Venezia have been ongoing for several days. At Alvalade, there is an intention to speed up the process as soon as Rui Borges’ team’s final position in the league is confirmed.

Qualification for the Champions League is seen as decisive by Sporting’s board to unlock the club’s next moves in the market. If Sporting secure a place in Europe’s top competition, the aim is to quickly finalize the deals for Doumbia and Pedro Lima, adding them to Rodrigo Zalazar as reinforcements for 2026/27.

Talks with Venezia are continuing, but they are still far from a full agreement. Sporting have shown willingness to reach the €15 million requested by the Italians — a fee that already includes bonuses — but the club from across the Alps has been delaying decisions while waiting for possible approaches from the Premier League.

The 22-year-old Italian midfielder is being tracked by Newcastle, Everton and Brentford, a scenario that has led Venezia to try to spark a genuine bidding war for the player. After securing promotion to Serie A, the Italians already acknowledge internally that it will be difficult to hold on to Doumbia for much longer.

From the player’s side, the possibility of playing for Sporting is viewed with huge enthusiasm. Issa Doumbia believes that Alvalade could represent the ideal step to grow competitively, fight for titles and play in the Champions League, a competition viewed by the Italy under-21 international as an important opportunity to move closer to the senior national team.

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