Rodrigo De Paul may not be the only South American to leave Serie A right after the end of Copa America. Leeds United have been pursuing Nahitan Nandez for weeks and are set to accelerate the talks with Cagliari now. Director Victor Orta has flown to Italy to work on the deal, local site Centrotrenuno.com reports
The 25-year-old midfielder has a €36M release clause in his contract. His departure would be automatic if the English club offered such a sum on the nail. On the other hand, they would prefer to dilute the cost in a pair of installments. According to La Nuova Sardegna, they have offered €15M for the initial loan and €15M next season.
Cagliari have not accepted the bid, but the relationship between the two owners is strong. There should be some development in short order. Nandez joined the Sardinians from Boca Junior for €17M in 2019.
His agent openly expressed his desire to leave in late May to the LUFC Fan Zone podcast: “Our wish is to play in England. If it happened at Leeds United, that would be best. The two presidents are great friends and have already discussed the transfer. They want to complete the deal. The Cagliari chairman promised him he would facilitate his move to a bigger club if Nahitan helped the team avoid relegation. Two Italian teams are after him, but the Premier League is our top option.”
Inter, Roma and Napoli have been linked to Nandez in the past. However, no Serie A outfit has ever come close to activating the release clause, or to his rich price tag in general.