Luton Town will not be renewing their interest in LDU Quito midfielder Oscar Zambrano as they’re going to buy a defender this month instead.
That’s according to the player’s agent, Mauricio Machado, who has confirmed that they made a bid earlier this year and criticised the decision by those in charge of the Serie A Primera Etapa to reject it.
Zambrano is one of the rising stars of Ecuadorian football, with some believing that he could eventually end up costing as much as the current big star of the country, Moises Caicedo.
That’s seen several Premier League sides consider a move for him, with Luton among those credited with interest.
Reports in September made it clear that they had made a bid to sign the 19-year-old, but a deal didn’t happen at that point. They were then said to have returned to the table in November before, again, that was followed by claims they had backed away.
Now Machado has explained exactly what went on behind the scenes, and it seems he’s unhappy that the original offer from Luton Town wasn’t accepted by those in charge.
“The first offer that I presented was in the middle of the year,” he told Ole.
“It was an offer of €5m for 80%, Esteban Paz rejected it because he said it was not enough. Luton took a step aside, now they tried to restart the talks, but a central defender was injured, and they cannot make an offer for Oscar because they are going to buy a defender.
“Esteban Paz and his people seem to me to have acted badly. Because when there was a very important offer from Luton in the middle of the year, for Oscar to arrive and play in the Premier League, because the coach wanted him, for me the sporting issue is always paramount.
“Knowing where he is going and if he is going to play, beyond the economic aspect for the club, at that time it was very important for Oscar to go to the Premier League because he was going to play.”
