After failing at the first time of asking, Lazio have pieced together a new bid to sign promising forward Marcos Leonardo from Santos. According to Alfredo Pedulla, the Biancocelesti have raised their initial offer from €10 million to €12m, including a future resale clause in the package.
Despite showing ambition to sell the 20-year-old, Santos turned down the Italians’ first bid for their homegrown star. However, Lazio president Claudio Lotito has earmarked Leonardo as an ideal candidate to reinforce Maurizio Sarri’s attacking options. Therefore, he’s unwilling to give up.
While a €2m increase compared to the initial approach may have been insufficient to bring Santos back to the table, Lotito has drawn up a plan to overcome that obstacle. The inclusion of a future resale clause has allowed talks to move forward.
However, there’s still a gap between supply and demand. While Santos would ideally like to obtain 30% of Leonardo’s potential resale, Lazio are sticking to 20%. Negotiations are progressing with cautious optimism from both parties. And there’s a feeling they could soon find an agreement.
Leonardo made his senior debut for Santos in August 2020. Since then, he’s made over 100 league appearances for the Peixe, growing into an essential first-team member. But his stellar showings at the Under-20 World Cup caught Lotito’s eye.
The prodigious forward netted five goals in as many outings for Brazil in June’s tournament. By the looks of things, his international exploits could prove enough to earn him a move to Lazio in the coming weeks.
In addition to Leonardo, Lazio have made in touch with Bologna over the possibility of signing Riccardo Orsolini.
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