Towards the end of last week, Matteo Darmian to Juventus was presented in Italy as pretty much done.
The fullback would be returning to his home country on loan and the Turin club would then have the option to make it a permanent deal in the summer window.
As we explained at the time, deep within the Italian articles were explanations of why the move wasn’t so simple. Other transfers had to fall into place first, and Darmian would be a domino in line.
Then there were claims about disagreement over price and, like has happened so many times before, the whole house of cards came tumbling down.
Thursday’s edition of Gazzetta dello Sport pushes Inter Milan interest and says there’s a ‘sprint’ on to sign the player.
It’s explained that whilst Manchester United have long been reluctant to agree to a simple loan, without purchase clauses, they’re not set to ‘give up’ in the face of the player’s desire to return to Serie A.
A loan fee is estimated at €4-5m, which seems high.
Juventus have withdrawn from the race, and Inter plan to ‘accelerate’ their efforts.
Doubts over the fitness and adaptation of Sime Vrsaljko are causing the interest in Darmian.
Gazzetta point out that Manchester United are interested in Ivan Perisic, just as they claimed yesterday, but they don’t say Darmian could be part of a deal for the Croatian.
