It seems that West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United are really in a race for the Sporting midfielder Rodrigo Battaglia.
The latest news from Portugal, which comes from O Jogo newspaper today, claims that both Premier League clubs have made €20m offers for the player.
What is favouring the move at this stage of the season is the Lions have signed two other midfielders in the January window, so there’s no problem in letting the Argentine go right now.
But none of the two bids should be accepted, at least for now. Knowing how wanted Battaglia is, Sporting will try to make the most out of his sale, and have set a price of €30m to start negotiating for now.
O Jogo claims that this is not an inflexible demand, and as long as there’s patience to negotiate, the Lisbon side could end up selling him for €25m.
This contradicts earlier claims of a lower fee for West Brom.
Battaglia is said to know that this is a great chance to play in the best league in the world, but still won’t force his way out, so anything that happens to him between these possibilities will be fine.
Signed on a €4.5m deal from Braga last summer, the player had a decent half of season at Sporting, with 29 appearances. He’s made a good midfield duo William Carvalho, but still, the club think this quick profit is worth selling him.
West Brom and West Ham interest is now really being talked up in Portugal.
