Serie A champions Inter are on the verge of announcing the agreement with Genoa for a heavily-anticipated switch of Josep Martinez to Giuseppe Meazza. According to Alfredo Pedulla, via FCInter1908, Simone Inzaghi’s men have struck a cash-plus-player deal with the Griffins involving talented winger Gaetano Oristanio.
Inter had initially stumbled upon Genoa’s €20 million asking price for the Spanish goalkeeper. An identical figure had previously seen the Nerazzurri walk away from Athletico Paranaense’s Bento. However, determined to sign a new stopper this summer, they have refused to back off as effortlessly in this case.
Patience and the ingenuity of Beppe Moratta have eventually paid off. Inter have found a way to bypass Martinez’s excessive price tag by introducing Oristanio as a makeweight in the deal. The Griffins have deemed the youngster, who spent last season on loan at Cagliari, fit for their project, thus accepting to lower their claims.
After being put off by the Brazilians’ prohibitive requests, Inter have settled on Martinez as their fallback option. Negotiations with Genoa have been underway for weeks and will finally come to fruition. Having an agreement with the 26-year-old in the bag has helped the 20-time Serie A champions convince the Marassi outfit to give a green light.
Martinez has accepted a five-year contract worth €1.5m, even though Inter had already explained their plan to keep Yann Sommer as a first-choice keeper for next season. The former RB Leipzig man will play second fiddle to the Switzerland international at first. But like Emil Audero, he’ll probably feature in cup games.
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