Alert! Sporting beat Benfica to the punch with bid for Doumbia | OneFootball

The battle between Sporting and Benfica for 2nd place in the Liga Portugal Betclic looks set to go down to the final matchdays, but the two rivals are already fighting another intense battle off the pitch. The target in question is Issa Doumbia, a Venezia midfielder who shone in the campaign that secured the Italian club’s return to Serie A.

Both the Lions and the Eagles are already in talks, but Sporting hold an advantage in one important area: besides contacts with the Italian club, the green-and-whites have already submitted a concrete proposal to the Italy under-21 international. The project put on the table was very well received by the player, who views the possibility of moving to Alvalade positively in order to fight for titles and regularly compete in European competitions, according to newspaper A Bola.

Sporting’s interest in Doumbia has been ongoing for some time and fits into the preparation for the possible departures of Morten Hjulmand and Hidemasa Morita. Sporting have already put forward the idea of a contract valid until 2031 and a release clause in the region of 80 million euros, a model usually applied by the club to the most highly valued midfielders and attacking players in the squad.

Benfica recently entered the race and now intends to speed up negotiations, taking advantage of the fact that Venezia have already secured promotion and can focus more on the market. Although they have not yet spoken directly with the player, the club in red is looking to position itself quickly in a deal that promises to heat up in the coming weeks.

This season, playing for Venezia, Issa Doumbia – valued at 8 million euros – has made 36 appearances. In total, across the 3,009 minutes he has spent on the pitch, the midfielder has scored nine goals and provided four assists.

Check out some moments from Issa Doumbia:

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