Manchester United transfer target Jhon Lucumi is set to seal an imminent exit from Bologna after his impressive World Cup campaign alerted several clubs
Manchester United look set to lose the transfer race for Jhon Lucumi as Juventus are aiming to finalise a deal with Bologna in the ‘next few hours’. Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth were other Premier League clubs in the race for his signature but it looks as though the Serie A giants will be acquiring his services.
Juve faced competition from a few of their domestic rivals with Inter Milan and Napoli linked but they were one of few to show a concrete interest. United were on the fringes until a report in Italy claimed they were willing to meet his €25million (£21.7m) asking price.
Luciano Spalletti’s side, meanwhile, initially appeared unlikely to do so after seeing their first bid rejected while a proposal from Forest was turned down by the player. The former have seemingly since improved their offer and according to GOAL, the deal is set to be completed in the coming hours.
Their report has stated that an agreement in principle has already been reached on personal terms with Lucumi to sign a five-year contract if the two clubs agree on a fee.
That has been the difficult part with it claimed that Juventus have tried to offer players to Bologna as part of a swap deal but with those advances rejected, they are now prepared to pay €20m (£17m) as a fixed fee with easily achievable add-ons.
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Lucumi’s preference to join Juventus has helped them throughout the battle for his signature with Como also seeing an offer dismissed. They subsequently switched focus onto Trevoh Chalobah which in turn caused Chelsea to register an interest in Lucumi.
However, it looks highly unlikely the 28-year-old will be coming to the Premier League but he is certainly getting his wish of joining a big club even though Juventus have not qualified for this season’s Champions League.
That competition is undoubtedly on the mind of Michael Carrick with squad depth to be key when it comes to competing on all fronts.
Youri Tielemans, Andrey Santos and Karl Darlow remain as the only permanent senior signings made by United with minimal activity over the last three weeks.
There have been links to the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga and Manu Kone as potential midfield signings but nothing has materialised.
In addition to Lucumi, left-footed defenders such as Lewis Hall, Jorge Salinas, Joaquin Seys and David Raum have emerged as targets. An enquiry was made for the former but Newcastle United made it clear that they have no plans to sell.
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