It was coming, and it appears that Torino have made their first move to try and keep Dennis Praet for another year.
Enjoying himself in Turin after being sent there for the year by Leicester City, the Belgian became a favourite of Ivan Juric’s throughout the season, even if recurring fitness issues kept him out of the squad a number of times.
The manager has been said to want to rebuild his squad around the midfielder if he can, but to do so would mean either negotiating a new loan with the Foxes or simply buy him outright.
Considering the fitness concerns, Torino weren’t prepared to do the latter via the pre-agreed €15m fee in last season’s loan, meaning they got to work on a package to try and convince Leicester to rent him out a bit longer.
It was previously stated that Brendan Rodgers’ side were waiting to see if anyone would come in with a permanent solution before considering the Serie A side’s offer, but with no one seemingly prepared to make that leap of faith, they need to find a solution one way or another.
That’s why Torino, according to Tuttosport, have decided to make a ‘rush forward’, and have put on a plate a ‘reviewed and accurate offer’, which is a new (paid) loan of around €1m with an obligation to buy at €8m + bonuses determined by certain conditions.
Those would be linked to his output on the field (number of appearances, goals and assists) as well as the final ranking of the club in Serie A.
While the finer details of those milestones aren’t revealed, the obligation to buy is described as ‘almost certain’, meaning they would be easily achievable.
All this would allow Leicester to ‘resolve a transfer market problem in a sufficiently convenient manner’, and Torino would be prepared to negotiate this until the end of June, as they want the player for their preseason.
If all this is agreed, then Praet would need to be given a contract by the Italians, with it said a multi-year deal at €2.5m/year or so post tax could be on the table.
Down the player’s end, Tuttosport make it clear the midfielder ‘wants to stay at Torino’, giving you an indication on his feelings about a return to the King Power Stadium.
A lot to take in, but moves are being made, meaning this could be the beginning of the end of Praet’s time at Leicester.
