The claim that Sunderland have agreed personal terms with Marseille star Igor Paixão has been questioned, despite the French club being under pressure to sell.
Friday’s print edition of La Provence reports that the 26-year-old’s potential agreement with Sunderland is not quite as solid as has been suggested.
Igor Paixão remains a Marseille player, but the question is for how much longer.
The focus is on whether he will pack his bags in the coming hours, enjoy a ‘last dance’ against Monaco on Sunday or extend his stay until January. A departure before Tuesday’s deadline is the most likely scenario at this point.
Sunderland efforts
Sunderland are currently at the front of the queue. Sport Witness have covered reports on their interest over the last week. That’s included claims of a personal agreement being in place.
La Provence now report that the situation has remained unchanged since the start of the week. Sunderland are pushing hard to sign Paixão but have failed to make an acceptable offer to Marseille.
The French side wanted €40m earlier in the summer. They are open to a sale as they need money to comply with UEFA rules and pressure from the French authorities (DNCG).
“Nothing is set in stone”
They are not willing to wait until January to sell Paixão for a better price. They even fear a financial disaster if they leave a sale until then. He’s spent the last three days absent from training because of that.
Igor Paixão for his part, is considering all his options. While several outlets have reported an agreement with Sunderland, La Provence cannot confirm that.
The key figures in the potential deal are remaining tight-lipped. The best the newspaper could get was that “nothing is set in stone” from their source.
It seems that they don’t want any information getting out and jeopardising a transfer which is very much needed.
