There has been a lot of talk recently of strikers coming from the Serie A to Stratford, such as AS Roma’s Edin Dzeko and Atalanta’s Duvan Zapata.
Now, TransferMarketWEB are citing information that suggests Mario Husillos is eying a midfielder from the Italian top-flight in Torino star Soualiho Meite.
The Italian publication offers no new information to what has been reported previously by Gazzetta dello Sport, via TEAMtalk, with the outlet repeating claims that Tottenham Hotspur are also tracking the French national, who only moved to Turin in the summer.
Il Toro may look to cash-in on the 25-year-old, though, as his game has come on from that shown in Ligue 1, where he never really found a home for himself at either Auxerre, Lille, Monaco or Bordeaux.
Across each side he has represented, the central-midfielder’s best campaign returned 15 starts, having mostly been an impact player from the bench.
With Torino, however, Meite has made 29 top-flight appearances, with 24 from the starting XI, and is now considered to be worth a fee between €25m and €30million (£21.6m – £25.9m).
If the repeated claims that we are monitoring the former youth international are true, it could, unfortunately, suggest the club are beginning to identify who we could sign to replace Declan Rice, as reports of interest in the academy graduate refuse to go away.
Both Manchester sides are regularly said to be interested in what he could offer as part of a new ‘English core’ at Old Trafford or the Etihad Stadium, and over the weekend a former Sky Sports La Liga presenter suggested Real Madrid have made contact with the players’ family.
Scott Minto is well connected in Spain from his time fronting the broadcaster’s TV coverage and believes Los Blancos are willing to secure Rice’s services for £60million.
That would be more than the Red Devils are said to be willing to offer, and almost as much as the Citizens’ were considering for our 6 ft anchor, and leave enough in the bank to fund a move for a young, exciting forward after signing Meite.
So far this season, Meite has played for 2145 minutes in the Serie A, scoring and assisting twice, while recording 36 successful tackles, 22 interceptions and has blocked 31 passes.
