Dries Mertens and Lucas Torreira flew to Turkey together over the weekend and were welcomed like superstars by the Galatasaray faithful. The club announced to have formally started negotiating to onboard them. The signatures will come in short order.
According to Corriere della Sera, the striker will ink a one-year contract with an optional second season. He will earn €4M factoring in add-ons. A series of benefits, including a host of flights from Istanbul to Naples, are part of the agreement. The attacker bid farewell to the Partenopei last week and reportedly turned down a large offer from Juventus.
On top of Mertens, the Bianconeri were also lightly attached to fellow Galatasaray newcomer Lucas Torreira. They are looking for somebody with his traits in the midfield. However, they have been unable to trim their ranks in such role, and therefore they have yet to complete any addition besides Paul Pogba.
? EXCL: Man Utd United working on deal to sign Adrien Rabiot from Juventus. #MUFC must decide if they proceed irrespective of ongoing De Jong pursuit or await outcome of that before deciding. 27yo France midfielder has 1yr on #Juve contract @TheAthleticUK https://t.co/kUM6VeImK7
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 8, 2022
As per Metro, the Cimbom will bring in the Uruguayan midfielder for a £7.5M fee, plus commissions for his agents. He spent 2021/2022 on loan to Fiorentina and had one of his best seasons. The Viola tried to renegotiate their €15M option to buy and a pre-determined agreement on wages, angering his camp and ultimately leading to his departure.
Our Take on Mertens and Torreira Joining Galatasaray
It’s a nice landing spot for the Belgian veteran, whose links to other Serie A teams always looked a little fishy, also because he wouldn’t have had a primary role in most of them. Instead, the ex-Viola man transferred for cheap given how he performed in the past campaign. A few sides will rue passing on such opportunity, starting with the Bianconeri.
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